Biography: adventurers and explorers Books

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Book SynopsisAfrican American artist Faith Ringgold narrates the events of her life from her childhood in 1930s Harlem to her stellar careers as both a best-selling children's writer and well-respected artist whose "story quilts" are displayed in museums worldwide.Trade Review“Bridging is the major motif of Ringgold’s life. . . . She is a bridge between the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights era. She is a bridge between her mother’s applied art of fashion design and her own fine art of painting and story quilts. She is a bridge between the black power movement and the women’s movement. And she is a bridge between the abstract art that dominated the ‘60s and the issue-oriented art that connected with viewers’ hearts—and lives.”—Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer“Faith Ringgold has already won my heart as an artist, as a woman, as an African American, and now with her entry into the world of autobiography (where I dwell), she has taken my heart again. She writes so beautifully.”—Maya Angelou“Faith Ringgold has created a rich and highly informative work not only of her own life as an American in general but as an African American in particular. These memoirs are a part of American history—of what it means to be an artist, a writer, and a philosopher in our society.”—Jacob Lawrence“Faith Ringgold’s exuberant and original art has made her one of America’s more important artists and a feminist heroine. Now her wonderfully honest memoirs will resonate with all political and creative women who are still fighting the battles Ringgold has won.”—Lucy Lippard, author of The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art“In words that are as direct, honest, full of color and life as her paintings, Ringgold gives each reader the greatest gift of all—courage to be one’s own unique and universal self.”—Gloria Steinem“The story of Ringgold’s triumph—achieved through sheer determination, savvy, and self-conviction—is both accessible and inspiring.”—Lowery Stokes Sims, executive director, the Studio Museum in Harlem“Ringgold provides juicy autobiographical stories, supplemented with personal photographs as well as ample illustrations and descriptions of her work. It is a memoir every artist should read. . . . The book is informative, forthright, and fun, and is a great teaching tool for both emerging and established artists.” -- Joyce Owens Anderson * Journal of African American History *Table of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Harlem Born and Bred 1. From the Cradle to the Classroom in the 1930s 3 2. Growing Up on Sugar Hill in the 1940s 25 Part II: Men, Marriage, and Motherhood 3. Men and Marriage in the 1950s and 1960s 39 4. My Mother Was Perfect, or So She Said 67 5. Parental Politics: My Daughters and Me 81 Color Plates 97 Part III: Making Art, Making Waves, and Making Money 6. A European Trip Ends with a Death in the Family 131 7. The 1960s: Is There a Black Art? 143 8. The End of the 1960s: Out of the Studio and into the Streets 165 9. The 1970s: Is There a Women's Art? 173 10. Teaching Art: Those Who Can Should 217 11. We Flew over the Bridge: Performance Art, Story Quilts, and Tar Beach 237 Appendix: Matisse's Chapel 273 Faith Ringgold Chronology 275 Public and Private Collections 283 Index 285

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction and Acknowledgments1. "I Have Seen a Good Deal of the Back Side of This World": Childhood in Kentucky (1809-1816)2. "I Used to be a Slave": Boyhood and Adolescence in Indiana (1816-1830)3. "Separated from His Father, He Studied English Grammar": New Salem (1831-1834)4. "A Napoleon of Astuteness and Political Finesse": Frontier Legislator (1834-1837)5. "We Must Fight the Devil With Fire": Slasher-Gaff Politico in Springfield (1837-1841)6. "It Would Just Kill Me to Marry Mary Todd": Courtship and Marriage (1840-1842)7. "I Have Got the Preacher by the Balls": Pursuing a Seat in Congress (1843-1847)8. "A Strong but Judicious Enemy to Slavery": Congressman Lincoln (1847-1849)9. "I Was Losing Interest in Politics and Went to the Practice of Law with Greater Earnestness Than Ever Before": Mid-Life Crisis (1849-1854)10. "Aroused As He Had Never Been Before": Reentering Politics (1854-1855)11. "Unite with Us, and Help Us to Triumph": Building the Illinois Republican Party (1855-1857)12. "A House Divided": Lincoln vs. Douglas (1857-1858)13. "A David Greater than the Democratic Goliath": The Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1858)14. That Presidential Grub Gnaws Deep: Pursuing the Republican Nomination (1859-1860)15. "The Most Available Presidential Candidate for Unadulterated Republicans": The Chicago Convention (May 1860)16. "I Have Been Elected Mainly on the Cry 'Honest Old Abe'": The Presidential Campaign (May-November 1860)17. "I Will Suffer Death Before I Will Consent to Any Concession or Compromise": President-elect in Springfield (1860-1861)18. "What If I Appoint Cameron, Whose Very Name Stinks in the Nostrils of the People for His Corruption?": Cabinet-Making in Springfield (1860-1861)19. "The Man Does Not Live Who Is More Devoted to Peace Than I Am, But It May Be Necessary to Put the Foot Down Firmly": From Springfield to Washington (February 11-22, 1861)20. "I Am Now Going To Be Master": Inauguration (February 23-March 4, 1861)21. "A Man So Busy Letting Rooms in One End of His House, That He Can't Stop to Put Out the Fire that is Burning in the Other": Distributing Patronage (March-April 1861)22. "You Can Have No Conflict Without Being Yourselves the Aggressors": The Fort Sumter Crisis (March-April 1861)23. "I Intend to Give Blows": The Hundred Days (April-July 1861)24. Sitzkrieg: The Phony War (August 1861-January 1862)25. "This Damned Old House": The Lincoln Family in the Executive Mansion26. "I Expect to Maintain This Contest Until Successful, or Till I Die, or Am Conquered, or My Term Expires, or Congress or the Country Forsakes Me": From the Slough of Despond to the Gates of Richmond (January-July, 1862)27. "The Hour Comes for Dealing with Slavery": Playing the Last Trump Card (January-July 1862)28. "Would You Prosecute the War with Elder-Stalk Squirts, Charged with Rose Water?": The Soft War Turns Hard (July-September 1862)29. "I Am Not a Bold Man, But I Have the Knack of Sticking to My Promises!": The Emancipation Proclamation (September-December 1862)30. "Go Forward, and Give Us Victories": From the Mud March to Gettysburg (January-July 1863)31. "The Signs Look Better": Victory at the Polls and in the Field (July-November 1863)32. "I Hope to Stand Firm Enough to Not Go Backward, and Yet Not Go Forward Fast Enough to Wreck the Country's Cause": Reconstruction and Renomination (November 1863-June 1864)33. "Hold On with a Bulldog Grip and Chew and Choke as Much as Possible": The Grand Offensive (May-August 1864)34. "The Wisest Radical of All": Reelection (September-November 1864)35. "Let the Thing Be Pressed": Victory at Last (November 1864-April 8, 1865)36. "This War Is Eating My Life Out; I Have a Strong Impression That I Shall Not Live to See the End": (April 9-15, 1865)NotesIndex

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2024 Michel Déon Prize for Non-Fiction A lyrical portrait of a young Irish woman reinventing herself at the turn of the twentieth century in America Ellen O'Hara was a young immigrant from Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century who, with courage and resilience, made a life for herself in New York while financially supporting those at home. Hereafter is her story, told by Vona Groarke, her descendant, in a beautiful blend of poetry, prose, and history. In July 1882, Ellen O'Hara stepped off a ship from the West of Ireland to begin a new life in New York. What she encountered was a world of casual racial prejudice that characterized her as ignorant, dirty, and feckless, the butt of many jokes. From the slim range of jobs available to her she, like, many of her kind, found a position as a domestic servant, working long hours and living in to save on rent and keep. After an unfortunate marriage, Ellen determined to win financial security on her own, and eventually opened a boarding house where her two children were able to rejoin her. Vona Groarke builds this story from historical fact, drawing from various archives for evidence of Ellen. However, she also considers why lives such as Ellen's seem to leave such a light trace in such records and fills in the gaps with memory and empathetic projection. Ellenscrappy, skeptical, and straight-talkingis the heroine of Hereafter, whose resilience animates the story and whose voice shines through with vivid clarity. Hereafter is both a compelling account of an incredible figure and a reflection on how one woman's story can speak for more than one life.Trade Review"An Irish Times and Irish Independent book of the year" -- 2022"A groundbreaking way of investigating a traumatic period in history, not only Irish history, but American history too." -- Colm Tóibín"Hereafter would be heartbreaking if it weren't so beautiful. As it is, it lifts the heart." -- John Banville, author of The Singularities"Hereafter is a mixed-media multi-genre tour-de-force. With poetry, prose, photographs, and a treasure trove of facts and artifacts pulled from the archives, Vona Groarke conjures the spirit of a woman she never met: Ellen O’Hara Grady, her mother’s beloved grandmother, missing for half a lifetime across the Atlantic Ocean. “Story is company,” Groarke writes; her mosaic of a narrative draws readers around a metaphoric hearth that warms the soul." -- Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast"A glowingly beautiful book about absence (and about absence becoming presence), this engagement with a ‘boxy, skeptical’ woman moves from plainness to poignancy, from groundedness to grace. It’s the story of a life but also a story of storymaking, written with immense skill and a living sense of writerly tact." -- Joseph O’Connor, author of Star of the Sea"Keats wrote that ‘a man’s life of any worth is a continual allegory.’ So too a woman’s. A conjuring, a searching, a haunting, a documenting, an imagining: Hereafter is a singular work of archival poetics and sympathetic vision. Speculative yet grounded in documents and historical research, this book draws on all the poet’s prodigious gifts—her formal inventiveness, historical sensibility, ethical acuity, linguistic brio. Vivifying the lives of young Irish immigrant women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on her own great-grandmother’s elusive presence in the historical record and in family memory, Groarke has brilliantly made of this ‘an intimating life,’ full of sensory detail and surprising transnational currents. Hereafter strikingly suggests en route how the work of Irish women abroad was crucial to the formation of the Irish state; it is a tour-de-force and also points to new horizons for life-writing in/as poetry." -- Maureen N. McLane, author of My Poets"A chance discovery in the archives of the New York Public Library was the seed for this book, and for that we should be thankful, because what has taken root with Hereafter is something remarkable. Vona Groarke, among the most brilliant poets writing today, gifts to her subject, Ellen O’Hara, the power of poetry, and in their joined hands is a powerful story indeed, freeing up the sonnet form so that it not only accommodates but ignites the rich and fascinating specifics of a private and important life. There has been nothing like this from an Irish writer before; it is a thrilling and beautiful creation." -- Belinda McKeon, author of Tender"As it imagines one woman’s life, this genre-bending book probes the nature of family and belonging and the profound ways ordinary immigrant women changed history on both sides of the Atlantic. Intelligent, searching, and warmly rendered." * Kirkus Reviews *"A striking tapestry woven of research and speculation." -- Brendan Daly * Business Post *"A beautifully distinctive exercise in imaginative empathy. Groarke’s writing is intimate — and impeccably honed. Hereafter is a fitting expression of gratitude, a reclamation or rectification as well as an attempt to assemble and understand Ellen’s life." -- Joanne Hayden * Independent.ie *"In Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara, the poet Vona Groarke traces, through a blend of poetry and prose, the life of her grand-mother, who emigrated from Sligo to New York in 1882 to work as a servant. Groarke’s lyrical act of historical investigation will surely become a classic of Irish literature." -- Frances Wilson * The Spectator *"A groundbreaking blend of history, poetry, and prose, a triumph of negative capability. This is a rich, rewarding, and heartbreaking read. Groarke restores not just Ellen, but all the other women who ‘left to live in other peoples’ houses.’" -- Martina Evans * The Irish Times *"Groarke not only exquisitely explores the nature of belonging in one family but also how Irish immigrant women transformed history both at home and abroad." -- Janet Somerville * Toronto Star *"[Y]ou should grab a copy of Vona Groarke’s Hereafter: The Telling Life of Ellen O’Hara. It is an inventive, fascinating twist on the life story of one so-called Irish 'biddy.' It is also a collage of poetry, history, and memoir. Just like George Saunders re-invented Honest Abe with his dazzling 2017 book Lincoln in the Bardo, Groarke gives us a new way to think about immigrant women, from her great-grandmother to herself." -- Tom Deignan * IrishCentral *

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Book SynopsisBaruch Spinoza (16321677) was one of the most important philosophers of all time; he was also one of the most radical and controversial. The story of Spinoza''s life takes the reader into the heart of Jewish Amsterdam in the seventeenth century and, with Spinoza''s exile from Judaism, into the midst of the tumultuous political, social, intellectual, and religious world of the young Dutch Republic. This new edition of Steven Nadler''s biography, winner of the Koret Jewish Book Award for biography and translated into a dozen languages, is enhanced by exciting new archival discoveries about his family background, his youth, and the various philosophical, political, and religious contexts of his life and works. There is more detail about his family''s business and communal activities, about his relationships with friends and correspondents, and about the development of his writings, which were so scandalous to his contemporaries.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Preface; 1. Settlement; 2. Abraham and Michael; 3. Bento/Baruch; 4. Talmud Torah; 5. A merchant of Amsterdam; 6. Cherem; 7. Benedictus; 8. A philosopher in Rijnsburg; 9. 'The Jew of Voorburg'; 10. Homo politicus; 11. Calm and turmoil in The Hague; 12. 'A free man thinks least of all of death'; A note on sources.

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Book SynopsisFrancis Cogliano revisits the relationship between Washington and Jefferson, arguing that their vaunted differences mask mutual investments in the Revolution itself. Their later divergence demonstrates how wartime unity gave way to competing visions for the new nation, making clear that there was no single founding ideal—only compromise.Trade ReviewCogliano considers the relationship between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in this measured and clarifying account…This deeply researched and accessible narrative sheds new light on a consequential friendship. * Publishers Weekly *It is hard to believe no one has written a detailed account of the difficult friendship between the two Virginian revolutionaries George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. We now have Cogliano’s meticulously researched, insightful, and fluidly written account of their history with each other. This book is just what we need as we approach the 250th anniversary of what these two men helped put in motion, the American Revolution. -- Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American FamilySuperb, compelling history. Deftly interweaving the personal and the political, Cogliano shows that Washington and Jefferson had a much closer relationship than is typically acknowledged, first as political allies, then as trusted friends and confidants, but the party strife of the young republic made them bitter opponents. -- Eliga H. Gould, author of Among the Powers of the Earth: The American Revolution and the Making of a New World EmpireA persuasively argued, well-written biography that illuminates and enlivens its subjects and their relationship. Avoiding the pitfalls of both the celebratory national narrative and its revisionist counterpoint, Cogliano enables readers to make better sense of the complicated circumstances—and complicated people—who revolutionized America, for better and for worse. -- Peter S. Onuf, author of Jefferson and the Virginians: Democracy, Constitutions, and EmpireA fantastic work of comparative history. Washington and Jefferson’s collaboration endured for three highly productive decades, but then, as now, even the warmest friendships sometimes got pulverized by politics. Cogliano’s poignant reminder that Washington and Jefferson never reconciled inspires me, as it may you, to try to rebuild bridges. -- Woody Holton, author of Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Masterly.”—William Anthony Hay, Wall Street Journal“‘An extraordinary man who achieves extraordinary things’ requires an extraordinary biographer. In Parker, [Charles V] has one. Seldom does one find a work of such profound scholarship delivered in such elegant and engaging prose. Drawing deftly on an astonishing volume of documentary evidence, Parker has produced a masterpiece: an epic, detailed and vivid life of this complex man and his impossibly large empire.”—Susannah Lipscomb, Financial Times“This biography is as majestic as its subject.”—Daniel Johnson, Sunday Times“This is a beautifully written and accessible work, presumably pitched for general as well as academic readers.”—Susan Broomhall, Parergon"No other scholar now has such a deep impact on the writing of the history of 16th-century European history."—Wim Blockmans, Rector Emeritus of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study "[Parker] brings the enigmatic, fascinating titan of 16th-century Europe blazingly to life in this superb portrait that is excellent, accessible and magisterial in both politics and humanity."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, Aspects of History Magazine 'Books of the Year 2020'“This monograph is a magnum opus of what Marc Bloch called ‘the historian’s craft’, both in terms of archival research...and in its narrative power. Parker narrates with refreshing ease and in gripping detail a vast array of events, details and stages of the life of Charles V.”—Stefan Hanß, History: The Journal of the Historical Association “Emperor is a highly readable and up-to-date study that deserves a place on the bookshelf of all students of sixteenth-century Europe. All future works on Charles V will need to take Geoffrey Parker’s erudite book into account.”—Sean T. Perrone, Bulletin of Spanish Studies“Luckily for us non-specialists, Parker has distilled what he knows about the Holy Roman Emperor into the very accessible Emperor: A New Life of Charles V… Fascinating and awe-inspiring.” —Jo Henry, BookBrunch CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2020“A remarkable book, a panorama full of astounding and memorable details, and a gripping read. No other living scholar could have organised and analysed the vast and dizzying array of source materials. Parker is both psychologically astute and sets Charles in the huge canvas against which he operated, always presenting the diplomatic, religious, structural and systemic contexts of the decisions he had to make. A monumental achievement.”—Lyndal Roper, author of Martin Luther“A splendid book. It’s well-written, engaging the reader, even while marshalling to good use a truly impressive erudition. . . . [T]his is the only book I know that stands comparison with Brandi in that respect, and Parker covers a lot more ground.”—James D. Tracy, author of Emperor Charles V“Emperor leaves me in awe. It is an unprecedentedly thorough imperial, and indeed, global, biography. The book marshals a breath-taking quantity of evidence, while paying meticulous attention to its quality. Brilliant.”—Bethany Aram, author of Juana the Mad, professor of modern history at Pablo de Olavide University, Spain, and principal investigator of the interdisciplinary project An Artery of Empire: Conquest, Commerce, Crisis, Culture and the Panamanian Junction (1513–1671)“No one has understood the Habsburg emperor better than the master historian Geoffrey Parker. In this meticulously-researched and brilliantly-narrated account, Parker strikes a perfect balance, highlighting Charles’s strengths as a warrior-king together with his personal weaknesses as a family man. A tour-de-force.”—Richard L. Kagan, author of Clio and the Crown“Geoffrey Parker’s biography of Charles V immediately takes its place as the premier study of the emperor available in English. Its significance, however, like the research that supports it, is global. I cannot remember reading anything that offered so much depth of perspective on both the emperor as a ruler and the age as a whole, the work of Karl Brandi included. It is a masterpiece of historical reconstruction.”—C. Scott Dixon, author of The Church in the Early Modern Age

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Book SynopsisGeorge Washington spent most of his time farming, often employing experimental methods. Washington saw slave-powered scientific agriculture as the key to the nation's prosperity. Bruce Ragsdale argues that it was slave labor's inefficiency as much as its inhumanity that finally convinced Washington to emancipate the men and women bonded to him.Trade ReviewDelightfully instructive…In this reliable and thorough rendering of ‘the most celebrated farmer of the age,’ Ragsdale undeniably casts new light on Washington on the question of slavery. By bringing to life Washington’s farming world, he does more than that. Washington at the Plow reminds us of the importance of agriculture and its enlightened improvement to America’s founding. In doing so, it illuminates much for early-American specialists and general readers alike. -- Mark G. Spencer * Washington Post *George Washington is typically known as the first U.S. president and a general. But for most of his life he was a farmer, and the implications of this agrarian background are, Ragsdale argues, far-reaching. Washington’s understanding of nation-building was inextricably linked to the concept of land cultivation, and his attempt to modernize farming techniques led him to reconsider, and ultimately reject, slave labor. * Bloomberg *Ragsdale does a masterful job presenting the quandary that slavery created for the first president…[This book] adeptly uses the lenses of agricultural development and slavery to present a multidimensional representation of America’s first—and arguably most revered—president. Both scholars and lay readers will find Ragsdale’s account a strong contribution to the historiography of Washington as a landowner, a public leader, and a private citizen. -- Camille Davis * H-Net Reviews *Bruce Ragsdale’s excellent work advances the scholarship of Washington and slavery using the rich resources Washington left behind…The flowing prose and readability make this book accessible to scholars and a general audience looking for a unique perspective on George Washington the farmer. -- Lynn Price Robbins * North Carolina Historical Review *Washington played a cautious, often contradictory role with respect to slavery. Why he did so is the subject of [this] timely new book…A portrait of Washington deeply rooted in the culture and politics of his era. -- Nicolaus Mills * Daily Beast *A fascinating and richly informative portrait of George Washington focused on how ‘agricultural improvement and the work of nation building were firmly joined in [his] mind.’…Ragsdale’s lucid explanations of agricultural and financial matters and excellent usage of underexamined primary sources make this a must-read for fans of early American history. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A landmark work that both deepens and complicates our understanding of George Washington. Ragsdale’s focus on farming—the subject the general and president cared most about—casts new light on nearly every other aspect of his life, not least the vexed issue of slavery. This fascinating book has done more to change my views on Washington than anything I have read in a long time. -- François Furstenberg, author of In the Name of the Father: Washington’s Legacy, Slavery, and the Making of a NationRagsdale depicts a wealthy white man in a slave society aspiring to be an enlightened farmer and a republican icon. Washington at the Plow is detailed, discerning, judicious. -- Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George WashingtonThis absorbing study of Washington as citizen farmer makes for compelling reading. Ragsdale is an authoritative guide to the famed Virginian’s embrace of agricultural innovations, then being pioneered in Britain, and to his attempts to make the enslaved workforce at Mount Vernon more productive, leading to his subsequent disillusionment with forced labor. He sheds new light on the African American communities on the Washington farms and the former president’s decision to emancipate his slaves after his death. -- Flora Fraser, author of The WashingtonsIn his engagingly written study of Washington as the ‘founding farmer,’ Bruce A. Ragsdale reveals that although the American Revolutionary War and the presidency would take Washington away from Virginia, the cultivation of the plantations at Mount Vernon were never far from his mind. Ragsdale convincingly argues that the ‘story of Washington’s life as a farmer fundamentally reshapes the familiar biography of the general and president.’ -- James MacKay * Agricultural History Review *An excellent book, clearly written and argued. What is most impressive is how far-reaching it is: Ragsdale helps us realize that agriculture tells us so much about Washington’s thought and character, from his plans for the political economy of the new nation to his view of slavery. Washington tried every device he could to make slavery work before eventually deciding the slave system was hopelessly flawed and must be abandoned. Better than anyone, Ragsdale explains Washington’s complicated decision to free his slaves in his will. -- Richard L. Bushman, author of The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century

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Book SynopsisRaymond Geuss is a critic of liberalism, a politics so pervasive in the West that it goes unnoticed. His attention sharpened by his own unorthodox intellectual journey, Geuss locates what we fail to see in the status quo: its shallowness and futility. Rejecting both authoritarian horror and liberal complacency, Geuss looks to genuinely new ideas.Trade ReviewBy intertwining autobiography and conceptual critique, Geuss underlines the idea that in order to gain a critical perspective on liberalism, it is necessary to become almost bilingual: able to speak the language of liberalism while also becoming fluent in the vocabulary of its critique. -- George Hoare * Times Literary Supplement *Thought-provoking…Though he doesn’t propose an alternative to liberalism, Geuss lucidly analyzes its shortcomings and sheds valuable light on how the critical mind is formed. This probing intellectual memoir will appeal to those who believe philosophy can change the world. * Publishers Weekly *Fascinating…Not Thinking like a Liberal deserves to be a classic. It is at once relatable and profound, humane and auspicious. In his best moments, Geuss offers his own life as a challenge to readers to think differently and more imaginatively. -- Matt McManus * Jacobin *Geuss’s bleak philosophical anthropology, or his broad, skeptical account of human powers and interests that is aimed at challenging the hubris of abstract theorizers, is compelling. His account of the unusual formation of his own intellectual and political sensibility is both moving and illuminating. -- Richard Eldridge * Los Angeles Review of Books *Over the past few decades, Raymond Guess has cultivated a reputation as one of the left’s most iconoclastic and individual thinkers. As a result, Not Thinking like a Liberal provides a timely autobiographical account of Guess’ intellectual development, sketching out his discomfort with the idea of liberalism and how his history and his thinking have converged…It is the ideal introduction to Geuss’ thought. -- Theo Stone * Marx & Philosophy Review of Books *There are many who regard themselves as liberal when it comes to opposition to the usual dogmatic authorities but who can’t identify with the liberalism of either contemporary Western capitalism or a dominant trend in recent political philosophy. Raymond Geuss’s remarkable book will be a clarificatory opportunity. It’s no straightforward polemic against liberalism but rather a typically insightful and persuasive guide to the philosophical resources that have guided Geuss himself toward his very distinctive position. -- Brian O’Connor, University College DublinOver the past few years, Raymond Geuss has attained striking mastery in positioning himself within current political philosophy by reviewing autobiographically the stations of his own intellectual development. In this new book, the talent this sort of writing needs undoubtedly hits its peak: by recollecting his upbringing in a small Catholic boarding school and his encounters with a few ingenious philosophers, Geuss eloquently and pointedly sums up the canon of aversions he has developed over the years to prevent him from becoming a liberal and persevering instead with the viewpoint of an estranged participant. There is more to learn about ethics, politics, and philosophy from this acute, expertly paced and plotted book than from dozens of scholarly studies on the same themes. -- Axel Honneth, Columbia UniversityRaymond Geuss’s philosophical memoir is an instant classic—a profound and iconoclastic story of how his fascinating formation evades any form of liberalism or authoritarianism! Geuss is the last great figure of the second golden age of American philosophy, yet his Hungarian Catholic beginnings and his Adorno- and Celan-influenced philosophy put him in a class of his own. This book is an intellectual feast and an existential feat! -- Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary, New York City

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An engrossing account of a leader who, by converting despair into strength, gave an exiled people both political purpose and the means to attain it.”—Benjamin Balint, Wall Street JournalWinner of the 2020 Canadian Jewish Literary Award in the history category, sponsored by the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies“Derek Penslar, the most original scholar on the history of Zionism today, has written a masterful book, which may indeed become the definitive Herzl biography of our age.”—Michael Brenner, author of A Short History of the Jews“Theodor Herzl was the indispensable catalyst of the Zionist movement that began before him, developed independently of him, and prevailed on its own decades after his death. Penslar’s book unlocks this paradox, and in richly providing the historical context of his leadership, magnifies its achievement.”—Ruth R. Wisse, author of Jews and Power “Derek Penslar has found in Theodor Herzl an amazingly complex character and tells his story with deep insight and great fairness. This biography is innovative, carefully balanced, and engrossing.”—Tom Segev, author of A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion“In his pitch-perfect biography for a new century, accomplished historian Derek Penslar portrays the psychic traits that allowed Theodor Herzl to be elevated by the longings of a fledgling Zionist movement, which he in turn elevated into a political cause that has redefined Jewish and world history down to our present. An elegant masterpiece.”—Samuel Moyn, Yale University

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Book SynopsisIn a sequence of short, condensed entries, Ferenczi’s diary records self-critical reflections on conventional psychoanalytic theory—as well as criticisms of his own experiments with technique—and his obstinate struggle to divest himself and psychoanalysis of professional hypocrisy.Trade ReviewCompelling… Ferenczi was an innovator, an experimenter, someone who was always trying new approaches to the treatment of mental illness, even when his unorthodox techniques placed him in opposition to his analyst and mentor, Sigmund Freud. -- Stuart Schneiderman * New York Times Book Review *Allows the public interested in such matters to assess, far better than before, the range of [Ferenczi’s] professional gifts and the depth of his psychological vulnerability… A welcome addition to the growing number of significant texts illuminating the history of psychoanalysis. -- Peter Gay * London Review of Books *The Diary is the work of a sane mind in full possession of its powers and gives us insight into the day-to-day thoughts of a practitioner whose status as a creative innovator is probably unsurpassed since Freud. It is a very moving book. One is continually amazed by the courage of the man. -- Peter Lomas * Times Literary Supplement *Freud criticised his one-time favourite son for advocating the ‘kissing technique’; Ferenczi believed that ‘only sympathy heals’. This is the 1932 record of his analyses. His work was faltering, doubting, and quite possibly, healing. -- David Flusfeder * The Week *Table of ContentsEditor's Note Acknowledgments Introduction by Judith Dupont Abbreviations The Clinical Diary of Sandor Ferenczi Draft Introduction by Michael Balint Notes for a Preface by Michael Balint Index

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Book SynopsisSusan Orlean first met John Laroche when visiting Florida to write for the New Yorker about his arrest for stealing rare ghost orchids from a nature reserve. Fascinated both by Laroche and the world she uncovered of orchid collectors and growers, she stayed on, to write this magical exploration of obsession and the strange world both of the orchid obsessives and of Florida, that haunting and weird ''debatable land'' of swamps and condos, retirement communities and real-estate scams. The world of the orchid hunters, breeders and showmen, their rivalries, vendettas and crimes, smuggling, thefts and worse provide the backdrop to a fascinating exploration of one of the byways of human nature, the obsessive world of the collector, and the haunting beauty of the flowers themselves.Trade ReviewLike the orchid, a small thing of grandeur, a passion with a pedigree... The Orchid Thief shows [Orlean's] gifts in full bloom * New York Times Book Review *A lesson in the dark, dangerous, sometimes hilarious nature of obsession...you sometimes don't want to read on, but find you can't help it * USA Today *Irresistable... A brilliantly reported account of an illicit scheme to housebreak Florida's wild and endangered ghost orchid. Its central figure is John Laroche, the 'oddball ultimate' of a subculture whose members are so enthralled by orchids they 'pursue them like lovers * Minneapolis Star Tribute *Fascinating... Tales of theft, hatred, greed, jealousy, madness, and back-stabbing... An engrossing journey * Los Angeles Times *Artful... In Ms. Orlean's skillful handling, her orchid story turns out to be distinctly 'something more.' Orchids, Seminole history, the ecology of the Fakahatchee Strand, the fascination of Florida to con men... All that she writes here fits together because it is grounded in her personal experience... [Her] portrait of her sometimes sad-making orchid thief allows the reader to discover acres of opportunity where intriguing things can be found * New York Times *

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Book Synopsis* The sensational autobiography of Sharon Osbourne - the First Lady of Rock - an icon for our times with an amazing story to tell - from an often shocking childhood, through a rollercoaster marriage, and still hitting the headlines today.Trade ReviewI have been kept awake for the past two nights, utterly gripped by Sharon's story . . . She makes Keith Richards, Kurt Cobain et all look like kiddies at a tea party, overdosing on fizzy drinks . . . she is radiant, confident, assertive and glamorous. And enormously successful, having turned Ozzy's career into a multimillion-dollar global industry, having recovered from colon cancer herself, and having finally seen her husband do a year without a drink. She is totally phenomenal * SUNDAY INDEPENDENT (IRELAND) *An emotional roller-coaster read. If you thought you'd already had a warts-and-all look at the Osbournes, think again. Sharon's frank memoirs lift the lid on what really goes on in their crazy house. Her wickedly infectious sense of humour sparkles on ev * B MAGAZINE *Sharon has beaten cancer, starred in the X Factor, and been the steely heart of The Osbournes, that jaw-dropping real-life soap opera of a genuinely loving family . . . vividly captured here in this pungent and distinctive autobiography * SUNDAY TIMES *She is currently scaling the heights of a career that has now surpassed her famous husband, and this is Sharon's story. Explicit in detail with her characteristically fruitful turn of phrase, this book will have you laughing out loud * WOMAN’S WAY *

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Book SynopsisThe English reformers of the 1530s, with Thomas Cromwell at their head, continued to have a strong belief in kingly rule and authority, in contrast to their radical approach to the power of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Resisting the king was tantamount to resisting God in their eyes, and even on a matter of conscience the will of the king should prevail. Yet just over 100 years later, Charles I was called the ''man of blood'', and Oliver Cromwell famously declared that ''we will cut off his head with the crown on it''. But how did we get from the one to the other? How did the deferential Reformation become a regicidal revolution? Following on from his biography of Thomas Cromwell, John Schofield examines how the English character and the way it perceived royal rule changed between the time of Thomas Cromwell and that of his great-great-grandnephew Oliver.

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Book SynopsisA lingering, long-haul collection of writing about sailing for readers of Julietta Singh and Kyo Maclear.In Relative to Wind, Phoebe Wang delivers a poetic rendering of her decade-long journey of learning to sail and a deep dive into what it means to be a newcomer to an old tradition. From working along­side crewmates in tempestuous conditions to becoming an avid racer and organizer to drafting a wistful love letter to a Wayfarer dinghy—while examining the loose tether between sailing and a creative life—Wang delivers a book for sailors and would-be sailors that is thoughtful and surprising at every tack."A thoughtful, illuminating look at life away from land."—Kirkus

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Book SynopsisKim Il-sung was the enigmatic architect of North Korea. His life is an extraordinary tale of improbable success: once a barely educated guerrilla fighter, he rose to lead the nation at the young age of 33. Against all odds, he established a horrifyingly stable dictatorial regime, one that still struggles to provide for its people, yet could obliterate Hollywood, Silicon Valley and much of East Asia in nuclear strikes. Based on extensive new sources in Korean, Russian, Chinese and Japanese, Fyodor Tertitskiy tells the unlikely story of one of the twentieth century''s most brutal but little-known dictators, from his early life in Japanese Korea to the lasting repercussions of his autocratic rule today. Tertitskiy showcases Kim''s political prowess in gaining autonomy from the USSR; explores how his inept economic policy led to catastrophic famine; and highlights how he implemented a system of hereditary rule, paving the way for today''s ''Supreme Leader'', Kim Jong-un, to assume power and continue his grandfather''s vision. Accidental Tyrant serves as a stark cautionary tale, underscoring that the triumph of liberty is never guaranteed. Met with insufficient resistance, even the most unlikely leader can build a regime of repression and privation that long outlives its founder.

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Book SynopsisThe Historia Augusta is a biographical collection written by a single author under six pseudonyms that covers the lives of the Roman emperors from Hadrian (r. 117–138) to Carinus (r. 283–285). While it is our most detailed surviving source for this period, it has more value as an enigmatic work of literary fiction than as history.Trade ReviewThe task of editing and revising the work of another scholar cannot be an easy task. Yet Rohrbacher has handled his endeavour with admirable skill and respect. The result is a welcome and, one might add, needed addition to the Loeb Classical Library, and will surely serve anglophone readers of this most beguiling of texts for years to come. -- Christopher Mallan * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

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Book SynopsisIn this biography of Iris Origo, Caroline Moorehead has drawn on unpublished letters, diaries and manuscripts to provide a vivid picture of the life of one of the most intriguing and attractive women of the 20th century.Trade Review"No one would have appreciated better than Iris Origo herself the delicacy, precision and tact with which this book restores her life." Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year

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Book SynopsisA shaman and visionary - not a poet in any ordinary sense - Maria Sabina lived out her life in the Oaxacan mountain village of Huautla de Jimenez. This work includes a presentation from Sabina's recorded chants and an English translation of her oral autobiography, her vida, as written and arranged in her native language.Table of ContentsEditor's Preface THE LIFE Written with Alvaro Estrada The Chants The Folkways Chant From The 1970 Session: Three Excerpts From The Mushroom Velada: Three Excerpts COMMENTARIES & DERIVATIONS Introduction to The Life of Maria Sabina Alvaro Estrada From Teo-Nanacatl: The Mushroom Agape The Uniqueness of Maria Sabina Henry Munn Maria Sabina in Mexico City Homero Aridjis From Fast Speaking Woman Anne Waldman Fast Speaking Woman & the Dakini Principle Anne Waldman The Little Saint of Huautla Jerome Rothenberg The Poet Speaks, the Mountain Sings ... Juan Gregorio Regino The Song Begins Juan Gregorio Regino Selected Bibliography Source Notes and Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November reflects on his seventeen years in the Secret Service for presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford.     The assassination of one president, the resignation of another, and the swearing-in of the two who followed those traumatic events. Clint Hill was there, on duty, through Five Presidents.     After an extraordinary career as a Special Agent on the White House Detail, Clint Hill retired in 1975. His career spanned the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford. A witness to some of the most pivotal moments in the twentieth century, Hill lets you walk in his shoes alongside the most powerful men in the world during tumultuous times in America’s history, the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Nixon.     It was indeed a turbulent time and through it all, Clint Hill had a unique insider perspective. His fascinating stories will shed new light on the character and personality of each of these five presidents, as Hill witnesses their human sides in the face of grave decisions.

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Book SynopsisAs a giant of 20th century history, Mao Zedong played many roles: peasant revolutionary, patriotic leader against the Japanese occupation, Marxist theoretician, modernizer, and visionary despot. This Very Short Introduction chronicles Mao''s journey from peasant child to ruler of the most populous nation on Earth. He was a founder of both the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army, and for many years he fought on two fronts, for control of the Party and in an armed struggle for the Party''s control of the country. His revolution unified China and began its rise to world power status. He was the architect of the Great Leap Forward that he hoped would make China both prosperous and egalitarian, but instead ended in economic disaster resulting in millions of deaths. It was Mao''s growing suspicion of his fellow leaders that led him to launch the Cultural Revolution, and his last years were dogged by ill-health and his despairing attempts to find a successor whom he trusted. Delia Davin provides an invaluable introduction to Mao, showing him in all his complexity; ruthless, brutal, and ambitious, a man of enormous talent and perception, yet a leader who is still detested by some and venerated by others. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Review[A] tautly argued, plainly told, luminous story that does full justice to all sides of the argument * The China Journal *Table of Contents1. Formative years ; 2. Marxist Labour organizer to Peasant Revolutionary ; 3. Achieving pre-eminence 1934-1949 ; 4. The revolution institutionalized: first years of the People's Republic ; 5. The Great Leap Forward and its Aftershocks ; 6. The Cultural Revolution ; 7. Decline and death ; 8. Assessments and legacies ; References and further reading

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Book SynopsisDramatized in the major motion picture Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce is the remarkable account of how one man’s vision, courage, and relentless pursuit of justice brought freedom to thousands and changed the course of history. “That the greatest and most successful reformer in all history is almost unknown today is a crying shame. Kevin Belmonte puts this right with his inspiring study of an inspiring life.” —Dr. Os Guinness, author of Unspeakable: Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil “An excellently researched and insightfully written biography … I applaud its sound scholarship and commend its perceptive insights into a great life.” —Brian Sibley, author of C. S. Lewis: Through the Shadowlands William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity is the definitive biography of the English statesman who overcame incredible odds to bring about the end of slavery and slave trade. Called the wittiest man in England by philosopher and

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Book SynopsisPeter Ackroyd is an award-winning historian, biographer, novelist, poet and broadcaster. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers London: The Biography, Thames: Sacred River and London Under; biographies of figures including Charles Dickens, William Blake, Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock; and a multi-volume history of England. He has won the Whitbread Biography Award, the Royal Society of Literature's William Heinemann Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the South Bank Prize for Literature. He holds a CBE for services to literature.Trade ReviewIt would be no exaggeration to say that Peter Ackroyd's 'biography' of our capital is the book about London. It contains a lifetime of reading and research-but this huge book is light and airy and playful-[He] leads us on a journey both historical and geographical, but also imaginative. Every street, alley and courtyard has a story, and Ackroyd brings it to life for us - marvellous -- A N Wilson * Daily Mail *Nothing can quite match the huge strange echo chamber of life-stories, folktales, and urban myths conjured up in Peter Ackroyd's epic vision of his native city. Sparkling, witty scholarship is constantly transformed into smoky mystical street-history, with dark hypnotic meditations on fog, fire, sewage, suicide and civic resurrection -- Richard Holmes * Daily Telegraph *Ackroyd is the most effortless guide. You wander by his side through the streets of the old city, savouring its bustle, colours and its smells, the stink of living. This is much more than history; it is a tapestry of inspiration and love. You will not find a better, more visionary book about a place we take for granted * Observer *It's this decade's finest work of non-fiction -- Jude Rogers * The Word *[London] may be several years old but it remains one of the leading narratives as he cleverly weaves through centuries of history to reveal to us the hundreds of different cities within a city -- Fiona Hamilton * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Prophet Muhammad is a hero for all mankind. In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; and a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur''an, for the Qur''an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire and a new civilisation. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself and retained to his last days the humility, courtesy and humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. If one looks for a parallel example from Christendom, you would have to combine the Emperor Constantine with St Francis and St Paul, an awesome prospect. Barnaby Rogerson''s elegant biography not only looks directly Trade ReviewA fascinating book about an extraordinary man, written with style and sympathy * Fergus Fleming *Rogerson can do epic scale, showstopping geography ... three empires contending for influence in Muhammad's Arabia. He makes you smell the frankincense * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book SynopsisA photo in the New York Times on June 10, 1942 depicted a young naval officer, John Duncan Bulkeley, and his wife in the back of an open touring car as they were being treated to a New York ticker tape parade. Hundreds of thousands of people were cheering him in a hero's welcome not seen since Charles Lindbergh returned from his solo flight across the Atlantic. The 30-year-old Bulkeley was just back from the Philippines, where he had pulled off one of the most spectacular rescues in U.S. naval history by taking General Douglas MacArthur out of the besieged islands aboard a PT boat. MacArthur's escape from the Philippine death trap was front-page news not only in the United States but all over the world. America's most illustrious soldier had been a hair's breadth away from being killed or captured by the Japanese. Both MacArthur and Bulkeley were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and commentators nationwide joined in the adulation. But no mention was ever made of the nearly 80 officers and men of Bulkeley's squadron who were left behind, a tragic sacrifice that no one at the time, or even later, would admit was totally unnecessary. Saving MacArthur is the story of the fateful friendship of two otherwise very different men who shared an unquenchable thirst for fame and a willingness to turn history into myth, a story that is as much about the nature of human beings as it is about a glorious moment in our past. But above all it is the story of the men history has forgottenthe crews of the PT boats whose extraordinary courage gave us that glorious moment, and whose only reward was to be abandoned and left at the mercy of the Japanesesome to face imprisonment and death, others, forgotten by the outside world, to fight a lonely war of their own as they worked to uphold the honor of their country in a land their country had pledged and utterly failed to defend. Saving MacArthur captures their incredible hardships, close escapes and ultimate triumph.

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Book SynopsisEmerging from modern history as a remarkable and much-loved family, the Mitfords have remained largely unrepentant concerning theirs and particularly Unity’s enthusiastic support of Hitler, the Nazis, Oswald Mosley and British fascism.

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Book SynopsisAce of Spies reveals for the first time the true story of Sidney Reilly, the real-life inspiration behind fictional hero James Bond. He was a master spy, a brilliant con man, a charmer, a cad and a lovable rogue who lived on his wits and thrived on danger, using women shamelessly and killing where necessary - and unnecessary.

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Book SynopsisIn An Appetite for Wonder Richard Dawkins brought us his engaging memoir of the first 35 years of his life from early childhood in Africa to publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976, when he shot to fame as one of the most exciting new scientists of his generation. In Brief Candle in the Dark he continues his autobiography, following the threads that have run through the second half of his life so far and homing in on the key individuals, institutions and ideas that inspired and motivated him. He paints a vivid picture, coloured with wit, anecdote and digression, of the twenty-five postgraduate years he spent teaching at Oxford. He pays affectionate tribute to past colleagues and students, recalling the idiosyncrasies of an establishment steeped in ancient tradition and arcane ritual while also recording his respect for the profound commitment to learning and discovery that lies at its core. He invites us to share the life of a travelling scientist, from Trade ReviewReaders of Brief Candle are in for many treats: lively prose from one of our greatest living writers; stimulating ideas on the nature of life and the human condition; and the opportunity to eavesdrop on the workings of an extraordinary mind, intellectually fierce yet personally generous. * Steven Pinker *[Dawkins] is a thunderously gifted science writer * The Times *Dawkins's greatest gift has been as a lyricist ... His writing can still sparkle. He excels at capturing the scenes behind a scene, deftly explaining a scientific principle, capping a story with an amusing anecdote ... At such moments, one feels transported to a tweedy evening at Oxford, pouring the sherry as a charming senior faculty member holds court. * Nature *A highly readable account of the fascinating career of the science populariser ... Among its attractions are handy summaries of the central arguments of each of Dawkins's books ... It shows Dawkins in all his contradictory guises * Prospect *Dawkins has written with passion, urgency and clarity * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis This book describes the intense rivalry--and collaboration--of the four players who created the golden era when USSR chess players dominated the world. More than 200 annotated games are included, along with personal details--many for the first time in English. Mikhail Tal, the roguish, doomed Latvian who changed the way chess players think about attack and sacrifice; Tigran Petrosian, the brilliant, henpecked Armenian whose wife drove him to become the world''s best player; Boris Spassky, the prodigy who survived near-starvation and later bouts of melancholia to succeed Petrosian--but is best remembered for losing to Bobby Fischer; and Evil Viktor Korchnoi, whose mixture of genius and jealousy helped him eventually surpass his three rivals (but fate denied him the title they achieved: world champion).Trade ReviewSoltis doesn't just pick the most familiar games...but rather games that bring something extra to the overall narrative...[McFarland books are of excellent quality, the binding is great and they will last an eternity, no matter how many read-throughs." - American Chess Magazine"I have read many fine biographies of these players, but Soltis' approach brings out something extremely interesting that had not earlier become clear to me. ...by comparing the players so explicitly to each other and highlighting their interactions with each other, Soltis helps you understand much better the strain and struggles that even these great players faced in chess. ...Great stuff! ...another wonderful book, once again beautifully produced by McFarland! 5 stars." - New in Chess"Anyone interested in any of these players or chess in the Soviet era would do well to pick up Soltis' book." - Chess Life"Arguably the best book Grandmaster Andy Soltis has ever written and considering he is one of the most prolific authors in the history of the game, with close to fifty titles to his name, that is saying something. Soltis does a thorough job throughout, sifting through many sources as evidenced by the numerous footnotes and extensive biography...a wonderful read that will continually fascinate...highly recommended." - IM John Donaldson"An excellent narrative history of the trials and tirbulations for these four players...his collection of games is interesting and well annotated...heartily recommended." - Mind's Eye Press"The stories are humorous, enlightening, and entertaining, and brings forth the humanity of the players. This is the soert of biography I know many readers have been waiting for." - ChessCafe.comTable of Contents Preface 1 Introduction: The Soviet Team of Rivals 5  1. Four Boys 15  2. Growing Pains 43  3. Overkill 62  4. Culture War 79  5. Spassky, Spassky, Spassky! 93  6. Volshebnik 109  7. Three Directions 133  8. A Takeoff, an Apogee and a Crash 151  9. Why Not Me? 180 10. Private Lives, Public Games 197 11. Candidacy 222 12. Humors 247 13. Whose Risk Is Riskier? 276 14. The Fischer Factor 301 15. Countdown to Calamity 318 Epilogue: Four Aging Men 335 Appendix A: Chronology, 1929–2016 339 Appendix B: Ratings Comparison 353 Chapter Notes 355 Bibliography 373 Index of Opponents 377 Index of Openings—Traditional Names 379 Index of Openings—ECO Codes 381 General Index 382

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Book SynopsisEffervescent' New Yorker Best Books Of 2022 So FarBursts with colour and incident' FT Best Books of SummerRead this prize-winning historian's immersive ( New York Times) account of the famous writers who, in the run-up to World War II, took on dictators and rewrote the rules of modern journalismThey were an astonishing group: glamorous, gutsy, and irreverent to the bone. As cub reporters in the 1920s, they roamed across a war-ravaged world, sometimes perched atop mules on wooden saddles, sometimes gliding through countries in the splendour of a first-class sleeper car. While empires collapsed and fledgling democracies faltered, they chased deposed empresses, international financiers and Balkan gunrunners, then knocked back doubles late into the night.Last Call at the Hotel Imperial is the extraordinary story of John Gunther, H.R. Knickerbocker, Vincent Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson: a close-knit band of wildly famous American reporters who, in the run-up to World War II, took on dictatoTrade Review‘High-speed, four-lane storytelling … Cohen’s all-action narrative bursts with colour and incident’Financial Times ‘A rivetingly raw account’Spectator ‘As effervescent, for more than four hundred pages, as its winsome and hyperactive characters’New Yorker ‘Ambitious … a distressing, immersive recounting of how denial, passivity and pacification aided the rise of authoritarian regimes’New York Times ‘Today the war news is available around the clock on TV screens, in print, and on the internet. Back then the best source of news was an intrepid band of young American newspaper correspondents … prodigious research and sparkling prose. The book is a model of its kind’Wall Street Journal ‘Giddy with the tumultuous drama of the era… the rollicking group biography of a colourful cabal of American war reporters in the 1920s and 30s who landed seminal interviews with dictators and revolutionaries alike’ Marina Hyde, Favourite Reads of 2022 ‘Sheer brilliance of writing and storytelling . . . entwining collective biography with the urgency of journalism’s interwar critiques to produce a riveting and deeply thought-provoking read’ Charlotte Elkins ‘A fresh, fast-paced history of the twentieth-century’s most defining events through the eyes of the foreign correspondents who dashed off to cover them … A riveting narrative that unites public and private affairs with rare fluency and power’Maya Jasanoff, author of The Dawn Watch ‘Beautifully written … A fascinating reminder of the days when first rate correspondents had not just access, time and money but real influence over world affairs’Caroline Moorehead, author of Martha Gellhorn: A Life ‘Brilliantly conceived, beautifully written, this is a daring new history of the world between the wars …Unforgettable’Adam Tooze, author of Shutdown

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Book SynopsisRaimon Panikkar: A Companion to his Life and Thought is a guide to the life, work and thought of Raimon Panikkar, a self-professed Buddhist-Christian-Hindu philosopher and theologian. A man of deep and wide learning and an extremely prolific author, Panikkar is equally at home in various religious and cultural traditions and embodies in himself the ideals of intercultural, intrareligious, and interreligious dialogues. This book explicates Panikkar''s basic vision of life as the harmonious rhythm of divinity, humanity, and the cosmos, which he terms cosmotheandrism, and shows how it permeates and illumines his articulations of the central Christian doctrines. Given the complexity and difficulty of Panikkar''s thought this book is a welcome companion for a course on Panikkar and for a general reader who wishes to understand one of the most profound and orginal thinkers of our time.Trade ReviewI would readily recommen this volume to anyone interested in acquainting themselves with Panikkar's work, or for those who wish to deepen their understanding of his 'mutationism' and mysticism John Alllison, Reading Religion, 2020 This is a really important study Robin Gill, Editor, Theology 122(5) The greatest merit of th indispensable 'companion', is perhaps that it inspires its reader to embark, beyong (but not without) their own religious tradition on a journey towards the mystery of being itself. As much as Panikkar himself, this captivating colume does not leave its readers untouched. Johan Verstraeten, Loyvain Studies (2020) N.2 p.186-87Table of ContentsAbbreviations Contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Who Is Raimon Panikkar, Why this Book, and Why Now? - Peter C. Phan and Young-chan Ro Part I: The Many Faces of Raimon Panikkar 2. Raimon Panikkar: Life and Work - Milena Carrara Pavan 3. Panikkar the Christian Thinker - Joseph Prabhu 4. Panikkar's Dharma, the West's Karma: Panikkar and Hinduism - Erik Ranstrom 5. Panikkar and the Silence of the Buddha - Michiko Yusa 6. Panikkar the Dialogical Man: Religion and Religions - Jyri Komulainen Part II: Foundational Themes: Philosophical and Theological 7. Hermeneutics, Myth, Symbol, Religious Language - J. Abraham Vélez de Cea 8. Mysticism and Spirituality in Panikkar's Thought - Young-chan Ro 9. Who's Playing with Whom? The Many Dwelling Places of Wisdom in the Theology of Raimon Panikkar - Leo Lefebure 10. The Trinity and the Cosmotheandric Vision: Reflections on Panikkar's Intercultural Theology - Anselm Min 11. Time, History, and Christophany - Francis D'Sa 12. Anthropology: Being Human - Gerard Hall 13. Sexuality and Gender in the Vision of Raimon Panikkar - M. Roberta Cappellini 14. Sacred Secularity and Prophetism: A Tension in Panikkar's Work? - Fred Dallmayr 15. Raimon Panikkar's "Eschatology": The Unpublished Chapter - Peter C. Phan 16. After Panikkar: An Epilogue - Francis X. Clooney, SJ A Glossary of Panikkarian Terms Bibliography: Primary and Secondary Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Little wonder that before Paul Handley no one had really pried into the king’s sleeping habits, let alone the state of his marriage or political views. The story he uncovers is fascinating."—Economist"A new and comprehensive history of the Thai modern monarchy . . . [which] presents a direct counterpoint to years of methodical royal image-making."—Jane Perlez, The Sunday Telegraph"Thailand’s reigning monarch has just celebrated his sixty-year jubilee and this is the first serious biography of him. . . . It is key to understanding the extraordinary events of the past year. . . . For too long, the issue of the monarchy has been the prone elephant that analysts of Thai history and politics have had to treat carefully around. That era should now pass. . . . In sum, this is the classic story of an exceptional man recrafting a monarchy against the grain of an era. But with a difference."—Chris Baker, Asia Sentinel"[Handley’s] biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej succeeds in engrossing the reader with the complex personality of the Thai king and his long and eventful life. . . . The chapters on political turbulence in Thailand between 1974-76, and on the impact of the 1997 financial crisis, find Mr. Handley at his analytic best. . . . Mr. Handley also has some important remarks on the uses and abuses of the lese majesté laws in Thailand."—Grant Evans, Far Eastern Economic Review

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Book Synopsis''What a compelling read! Nancy Goldstone has brought to life the four female Stuarts in all their tragic glory'' Amanda ForemanValentine''s Day, 1613. Elizabeth Stuart, the sixteen-year-old granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Frederick V, a German count and ally of her father, James I of England. In just five years a terrible betrayal will ruin ''the Winter Queen'', as Elizabeth will forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loves and launch a war that lasts thirty years.In a sweeping narrative encompassing political intrigue, illicit love affairs and even a murder mystery, Nancy Goldstone tells the riveting story of a queen in exile, and of her four defiant daughters.Trade ReviewWhat a compelling read! Nancy Goldstone has brought to life the four female Stuarts in all their tragic glory -- Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of DevonshireGoldstone is a master juggler. She tells a good story, always with a delightfully light touch. In the process, extraordinary women are given the attention they deserve. Goldstone brings them to prominence in a way that preserves their femininity while highlighting their strength. This is a feminist history without ever trying to be one -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *The political intrigues of 17th-century Europe are brought vividly to life in this biography of Elizabeth of Bohemia and her daughters ... this is an enjoyable book, a good piece of popular history - that is, the kind of history that people read for pleasure -- Alan Massie * The Scotsman *Extremely entertaining and immersive -- Minoo Dinshaw * The Oldie *Daughters of the Winter Queen flows beautifully from one chapter to the next, making it difficult to put down. Goldstone's immersive style of writing is also a winner ... the book is remarkably balanced considering that Goldstone had five intelligent women to discuss ... Daughters of the Winter Queen is a wonderfully compelling read that will interest anyone who is into royal history. Engaging, accessible, fascinating * All About History *'An engaging narrative... vivid and convincing... Goldstone is used to managing the reins of a multi-faceted royal narrative - and, once again, she does it with consummate skill -- Sarah Gristwood * BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE *Goldstone weaves her way through a turbulent century of civil war, regicide, and revolution to show us, in the search for a Protestant successor to the eventually childless Queen Anne, how Scottish Mary's feisty great-granddaughter Sophia almost became the Queen of England ... Goldstone's forthright and often witty asides keep this complicated story bowling along at a terrific pace ... Lively and well-researched, Daughters of the Winter Queen offers a timely introduction to a turbulent period in Britain's past relations with Europe * New York Times Book Review *Nancy Goldstone presents a fascinating look at the family of Elizabeth Stuart. The tentacles of this extensive family reached across Europe, and the children of the Winter Queen were involved in many of the major events of the seventeenth century. Goldstone skillfully brings to the forefront the central role marriage politics played among noble and royal dynasties, and the granddaughter and great-granddaughters of Mary Queen of Scots emerge as ambitious and skilled negotiators -- Johanna Luthman, author of Love, Madness, and Scandal: The Life of Frances Coke Villiers, Viscountess PurbeckThis rich and complex story of a seventeenth-century queen who lost her throne, and her four defiant daughters, is compulsively readable. Combining rigorous research with a vivid writing style, Nancy Goldstone illuminates the women who have often been left in the shadows of history, and reminds us that fascination with royalty is nothing new -- Charlotte Gray, author of Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the KlondikeThe story of how one remarkable woman's drive to survive secured the succession of the British crown to this day ... A great book for history fans seeking illumination on the connections of European royalty * Kirkus Reviews *Ms Goldstone ... is a thrilling narrator of this complicated history. Yet the achievement of a work like this is not merely its command of a vast and dense web of the past, but also its incredible literary merit. Daughters of the Winter Queen is nothing short of page-turning, an exceptional work of scholarship that reads like a favorite novel filled with political intrigue, romantic scandal, and more than one dark-of-night escape. If you are ... desperately awaiting season three of The Crown, you might at least avail yourself in the meantime of this fascinating account of where the queen's royal line began -- Neil J. Young * East Hampton Star *A compulsively readable account of an otherwise unfamiliar royal family. Goldstone writes with knowledge, humour and ease - a masterly storyteller who steers clear of overly academic language. Ideal for amateur Tudor historians who wish to be introduced to a lesser-known yet equally fascinating royal family * Library Journal, starred review *Goldstone relates the eminently readable tale of Elizabeth Stuart, dubbed the Winter Queen, and her four lovely, talented daughters ... The story of these five women, each remarkable for individual reasons and in her own right, both illuminates and is offset by Goldstone's vividly rendered European backdrop * Booklist *This lively, well-researched group biography focuses as much on the mother as on her more famous daughters ... [Goldstone] clearly presents a captivating story with empathy and humour in a relaxed, entertaining, modern voice * Publisher's Weekly *

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Book SynopsisSocrates'' trial and death together form an iconic moment in Western civilization. The picture we have of it - created by his immediate followers and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art ever since - is that a noble man was put to death in a fit of folly by the ancient Athenian democracy. But an icon, an image, is not reality. The trial was, in part, a response to troubled times - a catastrophic war and turbulent social changes - and so provides a good lens through which to explore the history of the period; the historical facts allow us to strip away some of the veneer that has for so long denied us glimpses of the real Socrates. Written by a scholar, but not only for scholars, this is an accessible, authoritative account of one of the defining periods of Western civilization.

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