Biography: philosophy and social sciences Books

Book SynopsisAn engaging book that charts the turbulent journey from childhood to adulthood of a well-known psychoanalyst. "Our human task is to be lived by Life. Life as a transcendent principle. It seems to me that a reliable test of whether we have lived worthwhile lives is this: is the world a better place for my having lived in it?" Neville Symington has written a dozen books about psychoanalysis but this one is different from all the others. It is an emotional autobiography that starts with his own birth and gives a character sketch of his mother and father and his upbringing in Portugal, with a two year period in Canada, and takes the reader through to the age of 45 by which time he was a qualified psychoanalyst, married with two sons and, at the time, living in London. This sounds like the story of a peaceful journey from childhood through to his chosen career in adulthood. However, the author takes the reader through the period of his earlier career in the Church in a parish in the East End of London and the turbulent period of change that led him to take leave of this first career, seek psychoanalysis and finally to become a psychoanalyst himself. This is an engaging book that charts the emotional storms and the ups and downs that beset the life's journey of a well-known psychoanalyst.Table of ContentsCONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR ix CHAPTER ONE Father 1 CHAPTER TWO Mother 49 CHAPTER THREE School and after school 69 CHAPTER FOUR Nightmare in Lisbon 101 CHAPTER FIVE The seminary 119 CHAPTER SIX The birth of subjectivity 149 CHAPTER SEVEN In exile 201 CHAPTER EIGHT Disaster and recovery 261

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Book SynopsisTrailblazing transgender actress, activist, and style icon Candis Cayne has spent a lifetime learning how to see herself for who she really is, and along the way has taught herself and others how to celebrate inner beauty as the perfect starting point for outer radiance. Drawing from her personal journey to self-acceptance and comprised of a unique combination of cross-barrier, body-positive wellness and style advice, Hi Gorgeous! is a one-of-a-kind beauty guide that will speak to all women. Engagingly written, highly visual, and filled with Glam on the Go tips and exclusive interviews with Candis''s team of radiance experts, the book will cover everything from new definitions of womanhood and beauty (with elements of Candis''s own journey woven in) to hands-on makeup and style tips aimed at enhancing all of a woman''s possibilities.Hi Gorgeous! opens with a foreword by Candis''s best friend, former Olympian and transgender star Caitlyn Jenner. This beauti

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Book SynopsisThe captivating, untold story of Hermann Rorschach and his famous inkblot testNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • New York Post • Sunday Times (UK) • Irish IndependentIn 1917, working alone in a remote Swiss asylum, psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach devised an experiment to probe the human mind: a set of ten carefully designed inkblots. For years he had grappled with the theories of Freud and Jung while also absorbing the aesthetic movements of the day, from Futurism to Dadaism. A visual artist himself, Rorschach had come to believe that who we are is less a matter of what we say, as Freud thought, than what we see.After Rorschach’s early death, his test quickly made its way to America, where it took on a life of its own. Co-opted by the military after Pearl Harbor, it was a fixture at the Nuremberg trials and in the jungles of Vietnam. It became an advertising s

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Book SynopsisIn his Timaeus and Critias dialogues, Plato wrote of two ancient civilisations that flourished more than 9,000 years before his time. Socrates accepted the account as true, and modern archaeological techniques may yet prove him right. In Plato, Prehistorian, Mary Settegast takes us from the cave paintings of Lascaux to the shrines of Çatalhöyük, demonstrating correspondences both to Plato's tale and to the mystery religions of antiquity. She then traces the mid-seventh millennium impulse that revitalised the spiritual life of Çatalhöyük and spread agriculture from Iran to the Greek Peninsula -- at precisely the time given by Aristotle for the legendary Persian prophet Zarathustra, for whom the cultivation of the earth was a religious imperative.Fascinating and challenging, Settegast's approach is truly comprehensive and thoroughly researched, yet written in a jargon-free and engaging style.Trade Review'A highly original and completely fascinating look at the shore between myth and history.'--William Irwin Thompson, author of The Time Falling Bodies Take To Light'Fascinating and challenging. . . A useful, well-documented, and courageous effort to break away from the unilinear paradigm and to propose a new framework for the data of the Holocene.'-- J.V. Luce, Professor of Classics, Trinity College, University of Dublin'A gradual revolution is under way which will have far-reaching consequences and this book is the valuable tool in that process. It was Plato who wrote about Atlantis first, he got it from his grandfather Solon when in Egypt. This book looks at the references to Timaeus and Critaeus and links it to archeaology examining in detail the links. It cogently argues the case for the mythic histories to be in fact not fable but fact. A book of scholarly clarity to jog our sense of historic complacency.'-- Baelder Pan-European Journal'Settegast's unbiased approach contrasts with the usual process of automatically imposing modern standards on Plato’s account. . . well worth considering as part of a new model for the period from 10,000-5,000 BC.'-- J.L. Benson, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology, University of Massachusetts'The evidence [Settegast] assembles is exhaustive, multi-disciplinary, and provocative. Her scholarship is solid and meticulously referenced; the conclusions are balanced; the prose is lucid and jargon-free. A valuable and original work.'-- John Anthony West, author of The Traveler's Key to Ancient Egypt

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Book SynopsisKrys Malcolm Belc''s visual memoir-in-essays explores how the experience of gestational parenthood—conceiving, birthing, and breastfeeding his son Samson—eventually clarified his gender identity.Krys Malcolm Belc has thought a lot about the interplay between parenthood and gender. As a nonbinary, transmasculine parent, giving birth to his son Samson clarified his gender identity. And yet, when his partner, Anna, adopted Samson, the legal documents listed Belc as “the natural mother of the child.”   By considering how the experiences contained under the umbrella of “motherhood” don’t fully align with Belc’s own experience, The Natural Mother of the Child journeys both toward and through common perceptions of what it means to have a body and how that body can influence the perception of a family. With this visual memoir in essays, Belc has created a new kind of life record, one that engages directly with the documentation often thought to constitute a record of one’s life—childhood photos, birth certificates—and addresses his deep ambivalence about the “before” and “after” so prevalent in trans stories, which feels apart from his own experience.   The Natural Mother of the Child is the story of a person moving past societal expectations to take control of his own narrative, with prose that delights in the intimate dailiness of family life and explores how much we can ever really know when we enter into parenting.

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Book SynopsisJust a girl, standing in front of a reader, reminding them they aren't alone.

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Book Synopsis'Callaghan's portrayal of a city under siege is many-layered and brilliantly told' Sunday Times Iraq, 2014 As ISIS laid terrible siege to Mosul, a zoo on the eastern edge of the Tigris was kept open against all odds. Under the stern hand of the zookeeper Abu Laith, whose name – loosely translated – means Father of Lions, its animals faced not only years of occupation, but starvation and bombardment by the liberating forces. Father of Lions is the story of Mosul Zoo: of resilience and human decency in the midst of barbarism. 'Father of Lions captures, with heartbreaking poignancy, the human cost of these conflicts' Josie Ensor, Middle East Correspondent for the Daily Telegraphy 'Through the story of a man who loves both lions and life, Louise Callaghan shows how humour and defiance can counter cruelty' Lindsey Hilsum, author of In ExtremisTrade ReviewAn unexpectedly funny and moving book. You might not expect to laugh when reading about ISIS-held Mosul, but through the story of a man who loves both lions and life, Louise Callaghan shows how humour and defiance can counter cruelty, and why both humans and animals crave freedom -- Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News and author of In Extremis: the life of war correspondent Marie ColvinCallaghan knows her way around a war. Her portrayal of a city under siege is many-layered and brilliantly told. The gallows humour and defiance of Mosulis in the most desperate circumstances will appeal to British readers * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisMarsha P. Johnson, Keith Haring, Harvey Milk, Audre Lorde, RuPaul... the names of pioneers and trailblazers who have advanced the LGBTQI+ cause and helped bring about new human rights. This book pays tribute in 50 portraits to the activists, personalities, writers and artists who have advanced the LGBTQI+ movement and celebrates those who have fought and are fighting every day to create a more inclusive and tolerant world. To coincide with a new touring exhibition of Florent Manelli's artworks.Trade Review"A wonderful way to learn more about living LGBT+ history through the people who peacefully challenge the world to be more inclusive and above all, happier." - Tony Malone, writer of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion: The Practical Guide; "From Marsha P. Johnson to Adrian de la Vega, via Hamed Sinno, Laverne Cox, Jean Chong, Anohni or Hanne Gaby Odiele (and yes, I chose to end with the Belgian personality of the book!), the author puts women, men and others at the heart of the LGBT+ cause, showing in passing that there is not only one way to be militant and that the path to a more inclusive world can take many directions. Biographical directories are non-fiction books that I particularly like. I'm more of a fictional reader, so being able to inform myself through a book that gathers information to peck at will is what suits me best. Each portrait is an opportunity to discover a part of LGBTQI+ history and the issues facing the people concerned. The graphic beauty of the book makes you want to come back to it regularly, and I particularly appreciate the diversity of the people represented, both in terms of gender identities and sexual orientations as well as ethnic origins. An essential to discover in a short time a whole part of queer culture and, in the words of the author himself, "to celebrate the courage, the beauty of being and the rage to live by being oneself". --The Literary BlogTable of ContentsForeword 5 Introduction 9 Profiles Bayard Rustin 22 Alan Turing 28 Tom of Finland 36 Edith Windsor 44 Harvey Milk 48 Barbara Gittings 56 Audre Lorde 60 Renee Richards 66 Nancy Cardenas 70 Larry Kramer 74 Miss Major Griffin-Gracy 80 Craig Rodwell 84 Armistead Maupin 90 Marsha P. Johnson 96 Brenda Howard 104 Jean Le Bitoux 110 Pedro Almodovar 116 Michael Cashman 124 Sylvia Rivera 128 Peter Tatchell 136 Judith Butler 140 Rosanna Flamer-Caldera 144 Martina Navratilova 148 Simon Nkoli 152 Keith Haring 158 Chi Chia-wei 164 Mark Ashton 168 RuPaul 174 Mary Bonauto 182 Manvendra Singh Gohil 186 Hida Viloria 192 Bamby Salcedo 198 Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah 202 Xulhaz Mannan 206 Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed 210 Nikolai Alekseev 214 Yelena Grigoryeva 218 Xiaogang Wei 222 Georges Azzi 226 Marielle Franco 230 Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera 234 David Jay 238 Linda Baumann 242 Megan Rapinoe 246 Elliot Page 250 Hanne Gaby Odiele 254 Olly Alexander 258 Hande Kader 262 Bouhdid Belhadi 266 Aaron Rose Philip 270 Glossary of terms 274 Photo credits 278 Useful Websites 278 Creative Notes and Drawings 281

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Book Synopsis“Some people say that the term ‘fighting cancer’ is too aggressive. But I did not go looking for this fight. Cancer started it. If I was fighting cancer, then it was only because cancer picked a fight with me. I plead self-defence.” Poet, author and activist Janine Booth was part of the ranting poetry movement in the ‘80s, performing as ‘The Big J’. In late 2016, she discovered a strange indentation in her right breast and was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer. In this collection of candid journal extracts, poetry, meticulous research and substantive politics, Janine details her journey from detection and diagnosis, through surgery, to ‘getting over it’. Includes a Foreword by poet and activist Kate Smurthwaite. “This book is a must for all health care workers – doctors, nurses, students, caterers, cleaners, porters – the team needed by patients facing The Big C.” – Dr Coral Jones, GP & Chair Hackney South and Shoreditch Labour Party “A veritable paean to our (still free) NHS. Together with the added bonus of some fascinating political background and an insider’s guide to terms. With poetry!” – Rhoda Dakar, songwriter, musician & activist “Janine’s openness, humour and honesty, combined with her poetic sensibility, leads us by the hand through her experience with cancer … to leave us breathless on her behalf and on behalf of all women facing such a challenge.” – Henry Normal, poet, writer, TV & film producer “Full of clarity, worry, humour, explanations about how capitalism hampers medical practice and love, praise and commitment to the NHS. It demystifies and humanises the cancer experience and inspires and entertains the reader.” – Morning StarTrade Review“You get an overall sense of strength and fierce determination to face this life-changing disease head on, to make the best of every situation, and draw as much humour and creativity from it as possible, whilst maintaining a righteous fury at the damage done to the NHS. Hand on heart, this is one of the best books I have read this year, I would urge everyone to buy a copy, for themselves, a friend, or a family member. Let’s start talking about cancer, and stop hiding it away." Laura Taylor – Write Out Loud

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Book SynopsisNiedersachsen, August 1961. Der Klassenlehrer Walter Wilke wird in seiner Dorfschule aus dem Unterricht abgeholt und später in einem der ersten großen Prozesse über deutsche Verbrechen in Osteuropa verurteilt. In seinem kleinen Ort wird über die Sache nicht gesprochen. Später kehrt der Mann zurück und lebt bis zu seinem Tod 1989 zurückgezogen im Dorf. Seine Frau, mit der er über Jahre in Bigamie gelebt hatte, ist die beliebte Landärztin. Jürgen Gückel, mehrfach ausgezeichneter Gerichtsreporter, geht einer Spur nach. Einer Geschichte, die ihn seit der Schulzeit beschäftigt, denn Walter Wilke war sein erster Lehrer. Gückel rekonstruiert einen einzigartigen Lebensweg: Walter war in Wahrheit Artur Wilke, der die Identität seines gefallenen Bruders angenommen hatte. Artur selbst war studierter Theologe und Archäologe, im Dritten Reich der SS beigetreten, nachweislich an Massenerschießungen von Juden beteiligt, galt als gefürchteter Partisanen-Jäger und wurde nach dem Krieg dann Volksschullehrer. Sein Name ist mit grauenhaften Kriegsverbrechen verbunden, doch zur Rechenschaft gezogen wurde er für seine Taten im Partisanenkampf nie. Das Buch zeichnet nicht nur eine spektakuläre deutsche Biografie im 20. Jahrhundert nach die Entwicklung eines Intellektuellen zum Täter und die Verneinung jeglicher persönlicher Schuld, das Wegsehen der Gesellschaft. Es zeigt auch auf, wie schwierig das Erinnern ist, wie unterschiedlich Erlebtes bewertet wird und wie schwer die Erarbeitung historischer Wahrheit letztlich ist. Auch nach der Sichtung mehrerer zehntausend Seiten Gerichtsakten und anderer Dokumente bleiben scheinbar einfache Fragen offen. Eine wahre Geschichte über Bigamie und Theologie, Verbrechen und Vertuschung, über die deutsche Nachkriegsgesellschaft und über eine familiäre Tragödie.

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Book SynopsisAward-winning women scholars from nontraditional backgrounds have often negotiated an academic track that leads through figurative--and sometimes literal--minefields. Their life stories offer inspiration, but also describe heartrending struggles and daunting obstacles. Reshaping Women''s History presents autobiographical essays by eighteen accomplished scholar-activists who persevered through poverty or abuse, medical malpractice or family disownment, civil war or genocide. As they illuminate their own unique circumstances, the authors also address issues all-too-familiar to women in the academy: financial instability, the need for mentors, explaining gaps in resumes caused by outside events, and coping with gendered family demands, biases, and expectations. Eye-opening and candid, Reshaping Women''s History shows how adversity, and the triumph over it, enriches scholarship and spurs extraordinary efforts to affect social change. Contributors: Frances L. Buss, Nupur Chaudhuri, LisTrade Review"Depositing their papers, journals, and oral histories in archives, the recipients have provided for future generations examples of 'feminist and social justice activism.' . . . The collection significantly contributes to women's history and women's studies." --Journal of American History"One gasps at the life-threatening illnesses, the wrong turns, and the array of discrimination these authors face. At the next moment, the reader cheers them on, wanting to celebrate every success and intellectual discovery. The combined elements of horrific challenges, in some cases, and redemption in all of them make for a rich autobiographical experience that powerfully stirs the reader."--Bonnie G. Smith, author of The Gender of History: Men, Women, and Historical Practice

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Book SynopsisHow Tobin Siebers' foundational work in disability studies resonates in the field today

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