Biography: philosophy and social sciences Books
Random House USA Inc I Am Dynamite!: A Life of Nietzsche
Book Synopsis
£17.60
Manchester University Press Intimacy in Postmodern Times: A Friendship with
Book SynopsisZygmunt Bauman was one of the most important social theorists of recent decades. He did major work on the Holocaust, the postmodern and much else, up to fifty-eight books in English on almost as many topics. In this book, Australian sociologist Peter Beilharz, Bauman’s collaborator for thirty years, recounts the details of their relationship, simultaneously charting the changes that have occurred in academic life from the 1980s to today. Friendship was one of the bonds that made Bauman and Beilharz’s intellectual collaboration possible. Though the two were worlds apart in terms of biography and place, their work together was defined by a certain kind of intimacy. Separated by a generation, they collaborated for a generation together. This book follows their story in touching detail while puzzling over Bauman’s rich yet contested legacy.Trade Review'As sociological data – as a record of how academic intellectuals at the turn of the century spent their time – Peter Beilharz’s memoir is valuable enough; but it is also a searching exploration of his debt to one of the great social theorists of our age, Zygmunt Bauman.'J. M. Coetzee'This is a book about intellectual love, and less about Zygmunt Bauman, the object of love, than about the intellectual offering it, the author himself. Peter Beilharz is one of the most cosmopolitan, self-reflexive and generous social theorists in the world today. He is also the best writer. Beilharz mixes prose of sinewy subtlety with history, irony and cultural traffic. His memoir takes us backstage, to the emotional matrix within which social theory is made.'Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University‘With Beilharz and Bauman as central performers, the tale told within these pages concerns how academic relationships are made and sustained either side of the internet revolution. It matters little, however, whether we know anything of our performers before the curtain raises – for upon this stage awaits a story of intellectual life fuelled by far more universal ideas of inspiration, admiration, labour, friendship, gain and loss.’Mark Davis, Director of the Bauman Institute for Critical Sociology, University of Leeds‘This book tells the story of an almost thirty-year relationship between two intellectuals who, despite their antipodal positions in Britain and Australia, fell in friendship just as people fall in love at first sight. Peter Beilharz takes the reader on an intimate journey through his friendship with Zygmunt Bauman, recounting their annual get-togethers and quoting extensively (and humorously) from his correspondence with both Bauman and his wife, Janina. Recalling their long and passionate discussions on sociology, culture, society, theory, politics and life, Beilharz opens the door to the personal lives of two thinkers, inviting the reader to get acquainted with the backstage of the intellectual world, where the greatest ideas are born. The result is a must-read, passionate book celebrating intellectual exchanges, powerful friendship and love.’Izabela Wagner, Associate Professor of Sociology at Collegium Civitas, Warsaw and author of Bauman: A Biography'The relationship between Beilharz and Bauman is, naturally, predominant; however, the work also opens up onto a far more expansive panorama.' J.F. Dorahy, Australian Catholic University, Thesis Eleven 'Bauman was and continues to be Beilharz’s teacher, as he was his friend. And, both teachers and students figure conspicuously throughout this story as much for Beilharz as for me the reader, since his account settling cannot but encourage readers to balance the ledger and recall the large shoulders on which they ride.'Christopher G. Robbins, Eastern Michigan University, Thesis Eleven -- .Table of ContentsBeginningPart I: Itineraries and archives 1 First decade 2 Second decade 3 Third decadePart II: Ways of going on 4 Entanglements 5 Heads up from giants Part III: Talking the days 6 Working together, at a distance 7 Last decade: Bauman writing, reading and talking 8 The 'Bauman phenomenon': signing outEnding AcknowledgementsBibliographyIndex
£23.75
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC A Woman Like Her: The Short Life of Qandeel
Book SynopsisA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 ‘The powerful story of a woman who was ahead of her time’ Mishal Husain, presenter at BBC News 'Terrific and necessary' Sonia Faleiro 'This book is brilliant and terrifying' Meena Kandasamy _________________________ A beautiful woman in winged eyeliner and a low-cut top lies on a bed urging her favourite cricketer to win the next match. In another post, she pouts at the camera from a hot tub. She posts a selfie with a cleric, wearing his cap at a jaunty angle. Her posts are viewed millions of times and the comments beneath them are full of hate. As her notoriety grows, the comments made about her on national talk shows are just as vitriolic. They call her Pakistan's Kim Kardashian, they say she'll do anything for attention. When she's murdered, they're transfixed by the footage of her body. Drawing on interviews and in-depth research, Sanam Maher pieces together Qandeel's life from the village where she grew up in the backwaters of rural Pakistan, to her stint in a women's shelter after escaping her marriage, to her incarnation as a social media sensation and the Muslim world's most unlikely feminist icon.Trade ReviewA breakthrough book, A Woman Like Her bracingly illuminates an increasingly global if yet under-covered phenomenon: the tragic collision between the forged selves of social media and the brute realities of ordinary life. It also describes, with rare intimacy, some profound cultural tumult in a society that is largely known for its political dramas -- Pankaj MishraThis fascinating portrait of Qandeel Baloch, Pakistan’s first big female internet sensation, is also a skillfully reported account of a country in which conservative mores conflict with the pace of social change, and in which women all too often pay the price * New York Times, Books of the Year 2020 *A terrific achievement. Sanam Maher’s sensitive, nuanced portrait restores humanity, in all its complexity, to her subject -- Olivia Sudjic, author of SympathyWritten without judgement, without pandering, without reducing its subject to a stereotype, this book is brilliant and terrifying -- Meena Kandasamy, author of the Women’s Prize shortlisted When I Hit YouA book about killing that tells us how we live now. Sanam Maher has her ear to the ground and a storyteller's voice that is intimate and yet soars to the skies. -- Mohammed HanifIn her excavation of the life of the defiant, glamorous Qandeel Baloch, Sanam Maher has put out the highest calibre of investigative journalism, written with tragedy, poetry and passion befitting of its subject -- Molly Crabapple, author of Drawing BloodOnly one of Pakistan's finest young writers could carry weighty themes like honour, fame, and violence with such deliberation and poise -- Fatima BhuttoQandeel was a marvellous blaze. She set our dark world on fire and made enough light to expose the hypocrisies of Pakistan's pious patriarchy. In Sanam Maher's terrific and necessary book, these flames burn brighter than ever -- Sonia Faleiro
£9.49
Pan Macmillan The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect
Book Synopsis'Neima’s book, impeccably researched and beautifully written, will be an inspiration for anyone looking to an alternative future today.' - Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats and The Great Level'Deeply interesting and a pleasure to read, The Utopians illuminates the history of “social dreaming” at a time when it has never been more needed.' - Alison Light, author of A Radical Romance, Common People and Mrs. Woolf and the ServantsThe Utopians is the remarkable story of six experimental communities – Santiniketan-Sriniketan in India, Dartington Hall in England, Atarashiki Mura in Japan, the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, the Bruderhof in Germany and Trabuco College in America – that sprang up in the aftermath of the First World War. Each was led by charismatic figures who dreamed of a new way of living. Rabindranath Tagore, Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, Mushanokoji Saneatsu, G. I. Gurdjieff, Eberhard and Emmy Arnold and Gerald Heard all struggled to turn ambitious ideals into reality. They – and their fellow communards – left their jobs, their homes and their social circles. They faced mockery and persecution, penury, hunger and discomfort, and their own doubts about whether their efforts to change society would ever make a difference. Anna Neima’s absorbing and vivid account of these collectives, from creation to collapse, reveals them to be full of eccentric characters, outlandish lifestyles and unchecked idealism. They were dramatic, fractious places where high ideals collided with the need to feed the chickens, clean the toilets, bring up squabbling children and grow the grain for the daily bread. These communities were small in scale and dismissed in their time. Yet, a century later, their influence still resonates in realms as disparate as progressive education, environmentalism, medical research and mindfulness training. They provided, and continue to provide, a rich store of inspiration for those who aspire to improve the world. Without them, the post-war world would have been a poorer place.Trade ReviewFascinating and richly documented . . . This is Neima’s first book, and should not be her last. She writes with a novelist’s eye for detail and clearly revels in the eccentrics she has to chronicle — Gurdjieff selling sparrows painted yellow, for example, to fund his trek from Russia to France. Few books manage to be so informative and so entertaining. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *[Neima] offers an original perspective on the entire period and a new way of navigating its artistic and ideological upheaval . . . Fascinating . . . by showing how a global crisis can lead people to question tradition and reshape society, the subject remains important to this day. -- Guy Stagg * Spectator *[Neima] ranges with impressive confidence across the world . . . pleasingly non-judgemental and avoids laborious analysis. Reading this book is perhaps the most delightful way to indulge in elite communism in the 21st century, other than being recruited to a Californian tech start-up. -- Marc Mullholland * Literary Review *Neima’s brisk storytelling and eye for the illustrative quote and telling anecdote conveys the thrilling and sometimes scandalous strangeness of these experiments . . . highly readable -- Mary Harrington * The Critic *Meticulously researched . . . an engaging and immersive blend of macro- and micro-histories. The fascinating protagonists of each story are expertly situated within wider socio-economic history, with parallels usefully drawn between each community. -- Zoe Apostolides * Prospect *Neima’s diligent account focuses on six interwar endeavours, in Japan, India, America, Germany, England and France, each established by a charismatic leader, each with a goal of creating a more democratic, just and peaceful society. -- Olivia Laing * TLS *Neima’s writing is absolutely, faultlessly superb. It was a pleasure to read every page and an example of how non-fiction can be capable of blending intense research with first-class prose plus a large dash of entertainment. Highly recommended. * BookMunch *Anna Neima has picked a valuable and illuminating focus for her first book . . . Engagingly written with colour, warmth and unobtrusive erudition, The Utopians looks back to find some sturdy roots of hope. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Arts Desk *In the midst of crisis it’s inspiring to read about men and women who dedicated themselves to creating new worlds. Neima’s book, impeccably researched and beautifully written, will be an inspiration for anyone looking to an alternative future today. -- Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats and The Great LevelCan we ever transform ourselves and our divided societies? Deeply interesting and a pleasure to read, The Utopians illuminates the history of “social dreaming” at a time when it has never been more needed. This is a lovely book. -- Alison Light, author of A Radical Romance, Common People and Mrs. Woolf and the ServantsNeima is a historian of rare and wonderful powers. She writes with utter lucidity, bringing great swathes of thinking into focus, uncovering deep connections between experimental communities across the world. Considering her chosen utopians with a precious mix of shrewd realism and questing open-mindedness, she honours both practicalities and dreams. I finished this book newly persuaded of what the interwar years can teach us about the future. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know, and looking to Neima as an inspiring new voice in non-fiction. -- Alexandra Harris, acclaimed author of Weatherland and Romantic ModernsBy highlighting the wide-spread, magnetic attraction of ramshackle and often spartan utopias, Neima's meticulously researched and measured study underscores the collective trauma of the First World War, and people's fervent attempts never to see those horrors repeated. -- Susan Gray * Church Times *A book that carefully recuperates the wild desires of a diverse group of dreamers who founded new societies between the 1920s and the 1940s . . . One of the great joys of the book is the kookiness of the projects [Neima] highlights -- Joe P. L. Davidson * Tribune *
£23.75
Pan Macmillan The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect
Book Synopsis'Fascinating and richly documented . . . Few books manage to be so informative and so entertaining.' – Sunday TimesSantiniketan-Sriniketan in India, Dartington Hall in England, Atarashiki Mura in Japan, the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, the Bruderhof in Germany and Trabuco College in America: six experimental communities established in the aftermath of the First World War, each aiming to change the world.Anna Neima's The Utopians is an absorbing and vivid account of these collectives and their charismatic leaders and reveals them to be full of eccentric characters, outlandish lifestyles and unchecked idealism.Dismissed and even mocked in their time, yet, a century later, their influence still resonates in progressive education, environmentalism, medical research and mindfulness training. Without such inspirational experiments in how to live, post-war society would have been a poorer place.'Thanks to Neima’s rigorous research, each chapter offers something new.' – Spectator'Neima ranges with impressive confidence across the world'. – Literary ReviewTrade ReviewFascinating and richly documented . . . This is Neima’s first book, and should not be her last. She writes with a novelist’s eye for detail and clearly revels in the eccentrics she has to chronicle — Gurdjieff selling sparrows painted yellow, for example, to fund his trek from Russia to France. Few books manage to be so informative and so entertaining. -- John Carey * Sunday Times *[Neima] offers an original perspective on the entire period and a new way of navigating its artistic and ideological upheaval . . . Fascinating . . . by showing how a global crisis can lead people to question tradition and reshape society, the subject remains important to this day. -- Guy Stagg * Spectator *[Neima] ranges with impressive confidence across the world . . . pleasingly non-judgemental and avoids laborious analysis. Reading this book is perhaps the most delightful way to indulge in elite communism in the 21st century, other than being recruited to a Californian tech start-up. -- Marc Mullholland * Literary Review *Neima’s brisk storytelling and eye for the illustrative quote and telling anecdote conveys the thrilling and sometimes scandalous strangeness of these experiments . . . highly readable -- Mary Harrington * The Critic *Meticulously researched . . . an engaging and immersive blend of macro- and micro-histories. The fascinating protagonists of each story are expertly situated within wider socio-economic history, with parallels usefully drawn between each community. -- Zoe Apostolides * Prospect *Neima’s diligent account focuses on six interwar endeavours, in Japan, India, America, Germany, England and France, each established by a charismatic leader, each with a goal of creating a more democratic, just and peaceful society. -- Olivia Laing * TLS *Neima’s writing is absolutely, faultlessly superb. It was a pleasure to read every page and an example of how non-fiction can be capable of blending intense research with first-class prose plus a large dash of entertainment. Highly recommended. * BookMunch *Anna Neima has picked a valuable and illuminating focus for her first book . . . Engagingly written with colour, warmth and unobtrusive erudition, The Utopians looks back to find some sturdy roots of hope. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Arts Desk *In the midst of crisis it’s inspiring to read about men and women who dedicated themselves to creating new worlds. Neima’s book, impeccably researched and beautifully written, will be an inspiration for anyone looking to an alternative future today. -- Stella Tillyard, author of Aristocrats and The Great LevelCan we ever transform ourselves and our divided societies? Deeply interesting and a pleasure to read, The Utopians illuminates the history of “social dreaming” at a time when it has never been more needed. This is a lovely book. -- Alison Light, author of A Radical Romance, Common People and Mrs. Woolf and the ServantsNeima is a historian of rare and wonderful powers. She writes with utter lucidity, bringing great swathes of thinking into focus, uncovering deep connections between experimental communities across the world. Considering her chosen utopians with a precious mix of shrewd realism and questing open-mindedness, she honours both practicalities and dreams. I finished this book newly persuaded of what the interwar years can teach us about the future. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I know, and looking to Neima as an inspiring new voice in non-fiction. -- Alexandra Harris, acclaimed author of Weatherland and Romantic ModernsBy highlighting the wide-spread, magnetic attraction of ramshackle and often spartan utopias, Neima's meticulously researched and measured study underscores the collective trauma of the First World War, and people's fervent attempts never to see those horrors repeated. -- Susan Gray * Church Times *A book that carefully recuperates the wild desires of a diverse group of dreamers who founded new societies between the 1920s and the 1940s . . . One of the great joys of the book is the kookiness of the projects [Neima] highlights. -- Joe P. L. Davidson * Tribune *
£10.44
Basic Books Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell
Book SynopsisThomas Sowell has an almost godlike status amongst conservative intellectuals. "It's a scandal that economist Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize," wrote a reviewer in Forbes. A profile in the Wall Street Journal described him as "one of America's great sages." His writing on politics, economics, and social issues have prompted both contempt and praise. In Maverick, Jason Riley explores the life and ideas of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most important Black intellectuals.A bright student with a tumultuous home life, Sowell was admitted to one of New York's most competitive high schools but dropped out at age 16. He left home a year later and moved into a shelter in the Bronx for homeless boys where he kept a knife under his pillow for protection. Years later, the G.I. bill enabled him to enroll in night school at Howard University and after his freshman year, he transferred to Harvard. By 1968, Sowell received his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, his dissertation written under the guidance of future Nobel economists Milton Friedman and George Stigler. Maverick follows Sowell from the University of Chicago to his early critiques of the Civil Rights moment. In the 60s and 70s, Sowell accepted teaching positions at Howard, Cornell, UCLA, and elsewhere -- but the campus turmoil of the era clashed with Sowell's principles and he refused to bend. He turned his attention to writing.Over the past fifty tears, Sowell has written over thirty books and countless columns and media appearances. Riley offers an introduction to Sowell's ideas, from race and inequality to economics and education. Riley considers how Sowell's own history alongside the moments and movements that shaped his thinking to offer a nuanced portrait of one of America's leading conservative intellectuals. Maverick explores the extraordinary scope and depth of arguably the most influential and trenchant Black social critics alive in America today - one whose contributions have been underacknowledged because they do not align with progressive ideas about race.
£22.50
Basic Books The Quest for Character: What the Story of
Book Synopsis
£21.00
PublicAffairs The Classical School
Book SynopsisA fascinating chronicle of the lives of twenty economists who played major roles in the evolution of global economic thought.What was Adam Smith really talking about when he mentioned the "invisible hand"? Did Karl Marx really predict the end of capitalism? Did Thomas Malthus (from whose name the word "Malthusian" derives) really believe that famines were desirable?In The Classical School, Callum Williams debunks popular myths about these great economists, and explains the significance of their ideas in an engaging way. After reading this book, you will know much more about the very famous (Smith, Ricardo, Mill) and the not-quite-so-famous (Bernard de Mandeville, Friedrich Engels, Jean-Baptiste Say). The book offers an assessment of what they wrote, the impact it had, and the worthiness of their ideas. It''s far from the final word on any of these people, but a useful way of understanding what they were all about, at a time when understanding these economic giants is perhaps more important than ever.
£15.29
Black Rose Books Requiem for a Lightweight
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Paragon House Publishers Parkinson's Blues: Stories of My Life
Book Synopsis
£17.06
Nova Science Publishers Inc Afro-American Biographies: A Bibliography
Book SynopsisThis Bibliography presents citations of hundreds of biographies of Afro-Americans under the categories of General, Science, Engineering and Invention, Entertainment, Sports, Civil Rights, Women and the Arts. Access is provided via Title, Author and Subject Indexes.
£60.79
New Falcon Publications,U.S. The Wisdom of Israel Regardie: Volume II --
Book SynopsisThe most important thoughts of Israel Regardie lie within the pages of this book. This unique compilation of essays and commentaries span his early career right up to his passing thru the veil. Every student and master will find this Volume both valuable and fascinating. Israel Regardie was a fascinating figure and larger than life philosopher, capable of kindness and humor while defending truth and justice. His writings capture his capacity for both intellectual rigour and a refreshing sensitive insightfulness. This is the very best of Regardie, an instant classic, and a must read for the esoteric student.
£26.34
New Falcon Publications,U.S. The Wisdom of Israel Regardie: Volume III
Book Synopsis
£26.34
New Falcon Publications,U.S. Aleister Crowley's Treasure House of Images
Book Synopsis
£19.54
Interlink Books Kahlil Gibran: Beyond Borders
Book Synopsis
£37.50
Prometheus Books It's Been a Good Life
Book SynopsisNew one-volume autobiography spans Asimov's life for the first time! As one of the most gifted and prolific writers of the twentieth century, Isaac Asimov became legendary for his inexhaustible creativity, wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, and talent for explaining complex subjects in clear, concise prose. While regaling his readers with an incredible opus of almost five hundred entertaining and illuminating science fiction and nonfiction books, he also found time to write a three-volume autobiography. Now these volumes have been condensed into one by Asimov's wife, Janet, who also shares excerpts from letters he wrote to her. Together these writings provide an intimate portrait of a creative genius whose love of learning and playing with ideas is evident on every page. Reading this autobiography is like sitting down with Isaac Asimov and experiencing his witty, engaging, and brilliant personality firsthand. We are treated to many marvelous stories about his upbringing in Depression-era Brooklyn, his early fascination with the new science fiction pulp magazines, the thrill of his first published story, the creation of his well-known story "Nightfall," the genesis of the Foundation series, and the evolution of his creative life as a writer. He also reveals his inner thoughts about and experiences with various luminaries in science and science fiction. Above all, Asimov's autobiography conveys unbounded enthusiasm for his craft, the infectious joy of learning and creating, complete intellectual honesty, his strong humanist convictions, and his infinite fund of good humor and optimism even at the end of his life - all told in the lively clear writing style that was his trademark. Although Janet Jeppson Asimov concludes this work with a shocking revelation about her husband's death, the volume is clearly intended as a celebration - as the title suggests - of a wonderful, creative life. As a poignant coda to this work, Janet has appended one short story that was Isaac's favorite, and his 400th essay on this thoughts about science.
£17.99
SteinerBooks, Inc Plato, Prehistorian: Myth, Religion and
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 Platos 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
£36.00
Steerforth Press Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo
Book SynopsisRiveting . . . harrowing and propulsive. —The New York Times Book Review*One of The Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2021 (Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly)* This powerful story shouldn’t be missed. —Publishers Weekly (starred review) With subject matter like this, you’d expect the book to be worthy, important, but hard-going. You’d be two-thirds right. The same qualities that prompted Toufah to break the barriers she did have allowed her to leaven the tale with humour, and a lot more of the good she encountered along the way than the bad that set her on her path. --The Toronto Star An incandescent and inspiring memoir of resilience from a courageous young woman whose powerful advocacy brings to mind the presence, resolve, and moral authority of Malala and Greta ThunbergBefore launching an unprecedented protest movement, Fatou Toufah Jallow was just a 19-year-old dreaming of a scholarship. Encouraged by her mother to pursue her own ambitions, Toufah entered a presidential competition purportedly designed to identify the country's smart young women and support their educational and career goals. Toufah won. Yahya Jammeh, the dictator who had ruled The Gambia all of Toufah's life, styled himself as a pious yet progressive protector of women. At first he behaved in a fatherly fashion toward Toufah, but then proposed marriage, and she turned him down. On a pretext, his female cousin then lured Toufah to the palace, where he drugged and raped her. Toufah could not tell anyone. There was literally no word for rape in her native language. If she told her parents, they would take action, and incur Jammeh's wrath. Wearing a niqab to hide her identity, she gave Jammeh’s security operatives the slip and fled to Senegal. Her eventual route to safety in Canada is full of close calls and intrigue. 18 months after Jammeh was deposed, Toufah Jallow became the first woman in The Gambia to make a public accusation of rape against him, sparking marches of support and a social media outpouring of shared stories among West African women under #IAmToufah. Each brave and bold decision she made set Toufah on the path to reclaim the personal growth and education that Jammeh had tried to steal from her, a future also of leadership and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence, especially in heavily patriarchal countries lacking resources and laws to protect women and even the language with which to speak openly about sexual threats and violence. “This terrific book had me on the edge of my seat, and sends an inspiring message to all women about the power of their voice.” --Anna Maria Tremonti “My (s)heroes do not wear capes... they call out injustices with enough grace and forgiveness to heal anyone that hears their story. Toufah is that graceful shero the world desperately needs.” --Celina Caesar-Chavannes “Toufah's story is horrifying and infuriating, but ultimately also hopeful and inspiring because of what she was able to achieve out of such darkness. To anyone who cares about addressing gender-based violence, this is essential reading.” --Robyn Doolittle
£14.41
St Augustine's Press A Journey to Point Omega – Autobiography from
Book SynopsisThis volume, the original version of which was published in 1988, brings to a close the autobiographical writings of a modern Christian philosopher who lived through the two World Wars and the ecclesiastical upheaval in the Catholic Church in the context of the Second Vatican Council. What stamps this philosopher throughout the course of his life – with all its social and political uncertainties – is his constant dedication to truth and his manifest unswerving integrity. Themes with which the reader of his previous works would be well acquainted recur in this volume. The dedicated Catholic philosopher, who preferred his independence as a trainer of teachers to the less independent role of a professor in a Catholic university, was quite prepared to criticize developments in the Church which resulted from Vatican II. In his defense of the sacred, which he deemed threatened by popularizing trends in the Church, he criticized what he saw as the watered down language in modern German translations of Church liturgical texts; the growing preference for secular garb; and the compromising developments which saw the sacramental signs – surrounding baptism, for instance – being reduced to such an extent that they no longer had the power to signify their sacred meaning even to a well-intentioned congregation. A great lover of the philosophy of Plato, Augustine, and Aquinas – among many others –, Pieper highlighted the need for living a life of truth. He did not consider truth to be merely something abstract but as something to be lived existentially. While he could explain his philosophy in clear rational terms, something which especially stood to him in his post-war lectures to eager students who were hungry for intellectual guidance and leadership, the great interest of his philosophy was, possibly, his preoccupation with mystery – that which impinges on our inner lives but frustrates all our attempts to account for it in purely rational terms. As a philosopher – one might say a Christian philosopher – Pieper seems to have observed the traditional boundaries drawn between philosophy and theology. His generation was exposed to the modernist debates in the Church. It would have been deemed heretical to say that the Divine could be grasped by our purely human thought processes – access to the Divine being only possible through faith and grace. Pieper was no heretic. But he was also not altogether conservative. In fact, his philosophy, closely allied to existentialism – despite his care, for instance, to distance himself from the negative existentialism of Sartre – focused on the individual’s inner existential grasp of the most profound reality. Truth is to be found within us, even if it remains a mystery. What lies beyond death is, for the individual, the ultimate mystery.
£23.00
Paul Dry Books, Inc Farewell to Salonica: City at the Crossroads
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Prometheus Books All Out!: An Autobiography
Book SynopsisThis candid autobiography, the last work by renowned psychologist Albert Ellis, is a tour de force of stimulating ideas, colorful descriptions of memorable people and events, and straightforward, no-nonsense talk. Ellis, the creator of one of the most successful forms of psychotherapy—Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)—recounts the memorable episodes of his life; discusses how he coped with emotional problems at different stages of life; describes his love life; and subjects his own self-description to a ruthlessly honest critique. The heart of Ellis's book is his analysis of the psychological leitmotifs that have appeared again and again throughout his life. He describes the aim of this autobiography as follows: "As far as I can, I shall present my bad and good, stupid and intelligent, weak and strong points. Why? Because, following H. G. Wells's recommendation, I want to go as all-out as I can. I want to acknowledge my idiocies—and use REBT to feel sorry about but unashamed of them. I want to make the point—again a central tenet of REBT—that all humans are fabulously fallible—including, of course, me. We have no real choice about this, but we can unconditionally accept ourselves—our so-called essence or being—with our fallibility. That will momentously help us, probably encourage us to acquire unconditional self-acceptance (USA) and possibly inspire other people to give it to themselves, too." With a concluding chapter by Ellis's widow, Debbie Joffe Ellis, describing the final years of his life, this is the definitive summation of the life and work of one of psychology's most successful thinkers and practitioners.
£22.50
Prometheus Books Hypatia of Alexandria: Mathematician and Martyr
Book SynopsisIn the late fourth and early fifth centuries of our era, Hypatia of Alexandria was the world's greatest living mathematician and astronomer. A strikingly beautiful woman and a devoted celibate, she lived in a city as turbulent and troubled as Baghdad or Beirut is today. She achieved fame not only in her special field, but also as a philosopher, religious thinker, and teacher who attracted a large popular following. Her life ended tragically in violence at the hands of a rampaging mob of Christian fanatics, who killed her for her "pagan" beliefs, some say at the instigation of St. Cyril of Alexandria. This is the first biography of Hypatia to integrate all aspects of her life. Mathematician Michael Deakin emphasizes that, though she was a philosopher, she was first and foremost a mathematician and astronomer of great accomplishment. In a fascinating narrative that brings to life a richly diverse ancient society, he describes her work so that the mathematics, presented in straightforward terms, finds its true place in the context of her life as a whole. Deakin supplies full detail on the historical, intellectual, and religious context of Hypatia's times. He also analyzes the pattern of her life and thought, and finally gives an account of the events leading up to her lynch-mob execution. Although this outrageous crime has made Hypatia a powerful symbol of intellectual freedom and feminist aspiration to this day, Deakin makes clear that the important intellectual contributions of her life's work should not be overshadowed by her tragic death.Trade Review"...this is a useful book, particularly given the fact that the sources are included." -- The Mathematical Association of America Online Reviews, August 20, 2007. "Deakin's notes are full of useful information, and his book is both comprehensive and captivating." -- ISIS, Vol. 99, No. 3, September 2008Table of ContentsIntroduction; The Historical Context; The Intellectual Background; The Religious Background; The Sources; The Details of Hypatia's Life; Hypatia's Work, Attitudes and Lifestyle; Hypatia's Death; Hypatia's Philosophy; Hypatia's Mathematics; Evaluation; Index.
£21.25
Penguin Putnam Inc You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know: A True Story of Family, Face Blindness, and Forgiveness
Book SynopsisA "poignant" (Boston Globe) family memoir that gives new meaning to hindsight, insight, and forgivenessHeather Sellers is face-blind—that is, she has prosopagnosia, a rare neurological condition that describes the inability to recognize faces. Growing up, unaware of the reason for her perpetual confusion and anxiety, she took what cues she could from speech, hairstyle, and gait. The truth was revealed two decades later when Heather took the man she would marry home to meet her parents and discovered the astonishing truth about her family, herself, and living with mental illness. In this uplifting memoir, Sellers illuminates a deeper truth: that even in the most chaotic and heartbreaking of families, love may be seen and felt.
£17.01
ARC Manor Autobiography of John Stuart Mill
£17.95
Akasha Classics Symposium
£24.72
University of Utah Press,U.S. Feed My Sheep: The Life of Alberta Henry
Book SynopsisAlberta Henry (1920–2005) was born in a sharecropper's shack in segregated Louisiana before moving with her family to Kansas where she grew up in a climate of hardship and hostile racial bigotry that forced second-class citizenship on African Americans.Henry endured intolerance by leaning on her faith and her commitment to a cause that she believed God had called her to follow. When she came to Utah in 1949 she thought it would be a brief stay, but she ended up making it her home for more than fifty years. In Utah, Henry committed herself to helping all races, religions, and ethnic groups coexist in appreciation of each other. While Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X led the struggle for civil rights at a national level, Alberta Henry campaigned tirelessly for equality at a local level, talking at school board meetings, before city councils, and in the homes of her neighbors.Henry was a member or officer of more than forty civic organizations and served for twelve years as president of the Salt Lake City branch of the NAACP, where she lobbied for civil rights, education, and justice. The dozens of awards and commendations she received speak to her accomplishments. While much of Henry's story is told in her own words, Colleen Whitley provides expert and personal context to her speeches, writing, and interviews. The result is an exceptional first-person account of an African American woman leader and her role in the Civil Rights Movement in Utah.
£28.46
University of Iowa Press Kissing Fidel: A Memoir of Cuban American
Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be instantly transformed into the most hated person in your community? After meeting Fidel Castro at a Havana reception in 1994, Cuban-born Magda Montiel Davis, founder of one of the largest immigration law firms in South Florida, soon found out. The reception - attended by hundreds of other Cuban ÉmigrÉs - was videotaped for historical archives. In a seconds-long clip, Fidel pecks the traditional protocol kiss on Montiel Davis's cheek as she thanks him for the social benefits conferred upon the Cuban people. The video, however, was mysteriously sold to U.S. reporters and aired incessantly throughout South Florida. Soon the encounter was an international cause cÉlÈbre.Life as she knew it was over for Montiel Davis and her family, including a father who worked with the CIA to topple Fidel, a nohablo-inglÉs mother who lived with the family, her five children, and her Jewish Brooklyn-born attorney husband. Kissing Fidel shares the sometimes dismal, sometimes comical realities of an ordinary citizen being thrown into a world of death threats, mob attacks, and terrorism.Trade Review“Kissing Fidel is most generous in how it treats the layered nuances of history; not just as fact, but as something that impacts the body, the landscape, the maze of the mind. I love how this work intersects, how it asks questions of both reader and self, with the understanding that there is no one clear answer. This is a rich and resonant text.”—Hanif Abdurraqib, judge, Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction “A powerful, terrifying vision of a dark political landscape unfamiliar to most Americans. After reading Kissing Fidel, I will never see Miami, or this country, quite the same way again.”—Kerry Howley, author, Thrown “In April 1994, Magda Montiel Davis was thrust into a maelstrom of injustice, violence, and bigotry. In this book she writes eloquently of the power drawn from her personal convictions, her family, and the colleagues who stood by her.”—Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former President of Haiti
£15.15
Arcadia Publishing Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo:
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£20.39
Bancroft Press Five People You'll Meet in Prison: A Memoir of
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£26.06
Bancroft Press Outpedaling the Big C: My Healing Cycle Across
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£26.06
Morgan James Publishing llc What Would a Wise Woman Do?: Questions to Ask
Book SynopsisFeeling stuck on autopilot, or totally off course?What if you could go back to key points in your life and ask different questions of yourself and others to change where you are today?Speaker, author, and entrepreneur Laura Atchison had it all--a great career, a successful business, ambitious goals, and a loving family--when she realized she was off course. Instead of achieving the life she was meant to live, she had been stuck on autopilot--plodding through the life others wanted her to live. By failing to ask the right questions of herself and others, her life had taken the wrong direction. Explore Atchison’s riveting and candid story to see the parallel struggles all women share--and the opportunities all women possess to learn and grow beyond their wildest dreams. Learn the right questions to ask in career, family, relationships, spiritual life, finances, and more.Unlock the life you were meant to have.Get back on course, and stay there.Begin asking different questions starting today—as a Wise Woman.If these people could have reviewed this book, this is what they might have said:""Laura’s on fire"" – Joan of Arc""If I had Laura to guide me I might not have gotten lost"" – Amelia Earhart""Maybe if we had asked how it could end differently than the others we would have kept our heads!"" — The Beheaded Wives of Henry VIII""If I had read this book, I might not have dated Marc Antony"" – Cleopatra""Laura’s advice is as indispensable as a thimble"" – Betsy Ross""Laura found the knowledge I was seeking"" – EveTable of ContentsForeword Introduction: What Am I Asking Myself? Chapter 1 How Do I Know if I Am Asking the Right Questions? The Allure and Danger of Autopilot How to Know When You Are Ready to Change How Do I Get Off Autopilot? Working from the “Spock Point” Working from the “Experience Point” “The Reality Point”: Tying It All Together Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 2 How Do I Question My Questions? Awareness Moments, Pause Moments, and Questioning Moments Key to the Future Me Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 3 Am I Happy with My Choices? Be Really, Really, Really in Love with Your Choices Recognizing the Warning Signs Wise Women Practice Self-care First Letting Go of Pleasing Others Wise Women Course-Correct The Four Key Questions Wise Women Ask Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 4 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Relationships “What Does this Relationship Do for Me?” Choosing Your Circle Wisely Family Should You Finish, or Not? Managing Expectations Be Present to the Reality, and Not the Programming Children The Beauty in Asking Why? My Children Have Four Paws: Pets as Children Friends Spouse/Significant Others Single and Loving it? Or Just Saying You Are? Community Business Relationships Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 5 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Business What Should I Do with My Life? Should I Work for Myself? To Staff or Not to Staff To Partner or Not to Partner To Sell or Not to Sell Real Worth or Ego Worth Changing Priorities Showed Reality For Once, it Really Was All About Me Different Does Not Necessarily Mean Bad Emotions in Business: Yes or No? Is It an End or a Beginning? Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 6 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Times of Personal Crisis Why is This Happening to Me? Are You Waiting for Others to Give You Answers? Family Illness Stop, in the Name of Love...Well Not Really What? Me, Worry? Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 7 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Money Matters What Does Money Mean to Me? A Penny Saved Piggy Bank Savings Launch When Ready! Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 8 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Self-perception Is Someone’s Opinion of Me My Reality? Our External Self-perception Win from Within Do You Have ANTS? It’s a Slippery Slope Mirror, Mirror in My Mind Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 9 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Searching for Faith Do You Believe in God? May the Force Be With You Really, One More Thing? Can’t I Ever Catch a Break? It’s Not About the Building Questions to Ask Along the Way Chapter 10 What Would a Wise Woman Do? In Planning Her Future Do You Want the Dream? Want = Lack Questions to Ask Along the Way Summary: What Would a Wise Woman Do? To Get Started “But Where Do I Start?” Start Exactly Where You Are! Author’s Note Acknowledgements Index: What Are the Questions? Appendix 1: What Does a Wise Woman Read? About the Author
£12.34
Prometheus Books Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore
Book SynopsisPeter L. Berger is arguably the best-known American sociologist living today. Since the 1960s he has been publishing books on many facets of the American social scene, and several are now considered classics. So it may be hard to believe Professor Berger's description of himself as an "accidental sociologist." But that in fact accurately describes how he stumbled into sociology. In this witty, intellectually stimulating memoir, Berger explains not only how he became a social scientist, but the many adventures that this calling has led to. Rather than writing an autobiography, he focuses on the main intellectual issues that motivated his work and the various people and situations he encountered in the course of his career. Full of memorable vignettes and colorful characters depicted in a lively narrative often laced with humor, Berger's memoir conveys the excitement that a study of social life can bring. The first part of the book describes Berger's initiation into sociology through the New School for Social Research, "a European enclave in the midst of Greenwich Village bohemia." Berger was first a student at the New School and later a young professor amidst a clique of like-minded individuals. There he published The Social Construction of Reality (with colleague Thomas Luckmann), one of his most successful books, followed by The Sacred Canopy on the sociology of religion, also still widely cited. The book covers Berger's experience as a "globe-trekking sociologist" including trips to Mexico, where he studied approaches to Third World poverty; to East Asia, where he discovered the potential of capitalism to improve social conditions; and to South Africa, where he chaired an international study group on the future of post-Apartheid society. Berger then tells about his role as the director of a research center at Boston University. For over two decades he and his colleagues have been tackling such important issues as globalization, the secularization of Europe, and the ongoing dialectic between relativism and fundamentalism in contemporary culture. What comes across throughout is Berger's boundless curiosity with the many ways in which people interact in society. This book offers longtime Berger readers as well as newcomers to sociology proof that the sociologist's attempt to explain the world is anything but boring.
£17.99
Prometheus Books A Lethal Inheritance: A Mother Uncovers the
Book SynopsisEvery family has secrets; only some secrets are lethal. In Victoria Costello's family mental illness had been given many names over at least four generations until this inherited conspiracy of silence finally endangered the youngest members of the family, her children. In this riveting story-part memoir, detective story, and scientific investigation-the author recounts how the mental unraveling of her seventeen-year-old son Alex compelled her to look back into family history for clues to his condition. Eventually she tied Alex's descent into hallucinations and months of shoeless wandering on the streets of Los Angeles to his great grandfather's suicide on a New York City railroad track in 1913. But this insight brought no quick relief. Within two years of Alex's diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, both she and her youngest son succumbed to two different mental disorders: major depression and anxiety disorder. Costello depicts her struggle to get the best possible mental health care for her sons and herself, treatment that ultimately brings each of them to full recovery. In the process, she discovers new science that explains how clusters of mental illness traverse family generations. Artfully weaving the scientific into the personal, Costello takes a journey to the far reaches of neuroscience and reports back on the startling findings it is yielding about the complex interplay between genes and environment that drives mental illness, and what it now tells us about how parents can trump a lethal inheritance. She shares the results of long-term U.K. and European family studies identifying the earliest signs of mental illnesses that can be passed on from grandparents to parents and grandchildren. She tracks ongoing clinical trials to reverse the courses of these diseases through early intervention with the latest evidence-based treatments and offers brain-healthy choices individuals and families can make to prevent mental illness-freeing future generations to live healthier, happier lives.
£13.49
Cosimo Classics My Own Life
£9.74
Rudolf Steiner Press Rudolf Steiner: A Biography
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£45.00
SteinerBooks, Inc Rudolf Steiner, Life and Work: 1923: The Burning
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£28.49
SteinerBooks, Inc Spiritual Friendship: Rudolf Steiner and
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£14.24
Texas A & M University Press When Everything Beyond the Walls Is Wild: Being a Woman Outdoors in America
Book SynopsisIn When Everything Beyond the Walls Is Wild, Lilace Mellin Guignard draws from emblematic moments and relationships in her own life to explore issues of gender, recreation, and environmental conservation. Born into a suburban family, Guignard wanted to get up close and personal with iconic American landscapes, but social pressures and cautionary tales told her that these spaces were not meant for her as a woman. Reflecting on the ways our culture socializes women to remain indoors, Guignard shares her own struggles with finding her place outdoors. Refusing to stay indoors and ""safe,"" Guignard drove cross-country with her dog, worked as a river guide, and set out to climb Mount Whitney. She recounts navigating outdoor interactions with male friends and strangers that range from wonderful to awkward to frightening. Now that she is settled with her own family, Guignard writes about how it is still more difficult for women than men to prioritize outdoor recreation time. These stories expose how cultural messages about women shape their experiences and interactions when backpacking, paddling, rock climbing, and bicycling. They broaden readers' notions of what adventure is, what places are considered wild and worth our care, and what types of people enjoy the outdoors. Drawing upon the art of the memoir—and informed by analysis from women's studies and ecological literature—Guignard makes an impassioned case for why women and marginalized members of society should have the opportunity to experience nature. The self-reliance and connection with the natural world that outdoor recreation fosters are qualities we all need in order to do the work required by the environmental challenges ahead.
£23.96
University of Massachusetts Press The Educational Odyssey of a Woman College
Book SynopsisEarly in her tenure as president of Mount Holyoke College, Joanne V. Creighton faced crises as students staged protests and occupied academic buildings; the alumnae association threatened a revolt; and a distinguished professor became the subject of a major scandal. Yet Creighton weathered each storm, serving for nearly fifteen years in office and shepherding the college through a notable revitalization.In her autobiography, The Educational Odyssey of a Woman College President, Creighton situates her tenure at Mount Holyoke within a life and career that have traversed breathtaking changes in higher education and social life. Having held multiple roles in academia spanning undergraduate, professor, and president, Creighton served at small colleges and large public universities and experienced the dramatic changes facing women across the academy. From her girlhood in Wisconsin to the presidency of a storied women's college, she bears witness to the forces that have reshaped higher education for women and continues to advocate for the liberal arts and sciences.
£24.46
University of Massachusetts Press Where Is Juliet Stuart Poyntz?: Gender, Spycraft,
Book SynopsisOn a sweltering June evening in 1937, American Juliet Stuart Poyntz left her boardinghouse in Manhattan and walked toward Central Park, three short blocks away. She was never seen or heard from again. Seven months passed before a formal missing person's report was made, since Poyntz worked for the Soviet Secret Police and her friends (many of whom were anti-Stalinist radicals in the United States) were scared to alert authorities. Her disappearance coincided with Josef Stalin's purges of his political enemies in the Soviet Union and it was feared that Poyntz was a casualty of Soviet brutality.In Where Is Juliet Stuart Poyntz?, Denise M. Lynn argues that Poyntz's sudden disappearance was the final straw for many on the American political left, who then abandoned Marxism and began to embrace anti-communism. In the years to follow, the left crafted narratives of her disappearance that became central to the Cold War. While scholars have thoroughly analyzed the influence of the political right in the anti-communism of this era, this captivating and compelling study is unique in exploring the influence of the political left.Trade ReviewLynn’s scholarship is exhaustive. Even though I am familiar with the case and the characters, I found myself being drawn into the writing and turning the pages eager to learn some new detail or twist." —Vernon L. Pedersen, president of the Historians of American Communism and author of The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919–57"In the first full examination of this significant case in the annals of American communism and anti-communism, Lynn has constructed a tight story of one of the central precipitating narratives of the domestic Cold War that reads like a gripping spy thriller." —John Sbardellati, author of J. Edgar Hoover Goes to the Movies: The FBI and the Origins of Hollywood’s Cold War
£20.85
University of Akron Press Free Rose Light: Stories Around South Street
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£23.70
Morgan James Publishing llc Insane Roots: The Adventures of a Con-Artist and
Book SynopsisGrowing up, Tiffany Rochelle had no reason to believe her mother was not who she claimed to be, but that all changed when she was nine. She learned her mother had been living under a false identity since before she was born, and that the name her mother had used on her birth certificate wasn’t real. From that point, Tiffany’s life was never the same. By the time she was twenty-five, her mother had used twenty-seven known aliases and had created just as many lives to go along with them. As she got older and “found” herself in the world of art, Tiffany realized that even if she could have chosen her mother, she would have chosen no differently. Tiffany knew that she would not have achieved success as an artist were it not for her mother’s insane roots. Tiffany Rochelle’s story shows how true the saying, “You can’t choose your family” is and why you should be grateful for them.
£9.49
WW Norton & Co Afropessimism
Book SynopsisA seminal work that combines ground-breaking philosophy with searing flights of memoir, Afropessimism presents the tenets of an increasingly influential intellectual movement that theorises blackness through the lens of perpetual slavery. Rather than interpreting slavery through a Marxist framework of class oppression, Frank B. Wilderson III, demonstrates that the social construct of slavery is hardly a relic of the past but an almost necessary force in our civilisation that flourishes today, and that Black struggles cannot be conflated with the experiences of any other oppressed group. In mellifluous prose, he juxtaposes his seemingly idyllic Minneapolis upbringing with the harshness later encountered, whether in Berkeley or Soweto. Afropessimism reverberates with wisdom and painful clarity in the fractured world we inhabit.Trade Review"Wilderson’s ambitious book offers its readers two great gifts. First, it strives mightily to make its pessimistic vision plausible. Anyone unconvinced by the vision may find this a dubious contribution, but enough people have been convinced by the view to make an accessible introduction to it a valuable resource just for understanding contemporary intellectual life. Second, the book depicts a remarkable life, lived with daring and sincerity. Afropessimismshares unvarnished glimpses of Wilderson’s childhood, his undergraduate years, his life as a worker and activist between stints in the academy, his graduate studies and their toll on his mental health, his personal relationships, and his experiences as an increasingly well-regarded academic." -- Paul C. Taylor - The Washington Post"There are crucial books that you don’t agree with, but one still comes to understand the importance of the thought experiment. Afropessimism is one of those books." -- Claudia Rankine, author of Citizen: An American Lyric
£21.59
WW Norton & Co The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny
Book SynopsisWhen Pliny the Elder perished at Stabiae during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, he left behind an enormous compendium of knowledge, his thirty-seven-volume Natural History, and a teenaged nephew who revered him as a father. Grieving his loss, Pliny the Younger inherited the Elder’s notebooks—filled with pearls of wisdom—and his legacy. At its heart, The Shadow of Vesuvius is a literary biography of the younger man, who would grow up to become a lawyer, senator, poet, collector of villas, and chronicler of the Roman Empire from the dire days of terror under Emperor Domitian to the gentler times of Emperor Trajan. A biography that will appeal to lovers of Mary Beard books, it is also a moving narrative about the profound influence of a father figure on his adopted son. Interweaving the younger Pliny’s Letters with extracts from the Elder’s Natural History, Daisy Dunn paints a vivid, compellingly readable portrait of two of antiquity’s greatest minds.Trade Review"The Shadow of Vesuvius is the definitive guide to Plinydom." -- Franz Lidz - New York Times"If you were writing a biography of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus—or Pliny the Younger, the author of one of the most famous collections of letters surviving from the early Roman Empire—it would be hard not to start with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, in 79 A.D., for Pliny was the only writer to leave us an eyewitness account of the catastrophe. The English classicist Daisy Dunn… wisely does not resist the temptation… She succeed[s] in making Pliny [the Younger]…a poignant character, the kind of person who has to do the dirty jobs of an empire and, having done them, gets no compliments…. Neither Pliny knew that his homeland’s great mountain, Vesuvius, was nourishing in her bosom the extermination of so many of her people. This somehow makes the two men’s kinship closer." -- Joan Acocella - The New Yorker"If only Daisy Dunn’s book had been around back when I was an aspiring classicist… Dunn is a good writer, with some of the easy erudition of Mary Beard, that great popularizer of Roman history, and her translations from both Plinys are graceful and precise. Ultimately her enthusiasm, together with her eye for the odd, surprising detail, wins you over." -- Charles McGrath, New York Times Book Review"Only a writer as sure-footed as Ms. Dunn would even attempt such a challenge…. Her exploration of his life and times, and that of his uncle, has much to offer to readers, with its ground-up, kaleidoscopic view of a nine-decade span of Roman history." -- James Romm, Wall Street Journal"A delightful biography, interweaving extracts from [Pliny the] Elder’s Natural History with [Pliny the] Younger’s letters, speeches, and poetry into an insightful portrait of the men, their world, and their influence on people such as Giorgio Vasari, Frances Bacon, and Percy and Mary Shelley.... This is a rich, entertaining dual biography of two fascinating men, a revealing portrait of ancient Rome, and a celebration of nature that will appeal to fans of Mary Beard." -- Merle Jacob, Booklist [starred review]"Rather than provide us with merely a biography of a magistrate, Dunn gives us a portrait of an entire way of life…. Dunn also knows how to work a sentence. Without ever veering into historical fiction, she consistently succeeds in bringing what might otherwise seem dusty and remote to vivid life…. If there is much about Pliny’s world that she makes seem familiar, then there is just as much that she makes seem very strange….The result is a portrait of the Roman Empire that gives the reader something of the shiver down the spine that Herculaneum can inspire: a sense that we are as close to the vanished world of two millennia ago as we are ever likely to get." -- Literary Review (UK)"Enthusiastic and vividly drawn.... An appreciation of both men, with frequent digressions on the Elder's opinions on oysters and metal scripture, the Younger's poetical ambitions and villas along Lake Como, and the effect of their dual legacy on future eras." -- Kathleen McCallister, Library Journal"The Roman Empire comes to life through the biographies of two influential men.... [Dunn] creates a vivid tapestry of the Roman world.... A sensitive, spirited investigation of the ancient world." -- Kirkus Reviews"[Sparks] impresses with her exceptional collection of wry, feminist stories.... Some stories smuggle incredible emotional impact into surprisingly few pages.... Sparks’s sardonic wit never distracts from her polished dismantling of everyday and extraordinary abuses. Readers will love this remarkable, deliciously caustic collection." -- Publishers Weekly
£22.79
Mango Media Great Second Acts: In Praise of Older Women
Book SynopsisOlder Women Who Changed the World"This book is full of fascinating stories of women who rose above, and who had glorious second acts in their lives." ―Advice Sisters#1 New Release in Biographies & Memoirs, Quotations, and EducatorsDiscover the empowering stories of older women who changed the world. Their lives are testimony that one can be feisty after fifty―and to those who think otherwise, in the words of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “I dissent.”A motivational collection of stories about empowering women. Antony said of Cleopatra, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale/Her infinite variety.” Shakespeare’s sentiment can be applied to the women profiled in Great Second Acts who refused to be defined by the dates on their birth certificates.An excellent gift for students, mothers, sisters, and friends. Marlene Wagman-Geller, author of Once Again to Zelda and Behind Every Great Man, presents a fascinating collection of biographical vignettes of dozens of amazing women of a certain age who excelled, inspired, and achieved. Learn how these women changed their respective fields of art, politics, science, mathematics, media, literature, activism, education, and more.Biographies of leadership and female empowerment. From actresses, yoga teachers, folk artists to businesswomen, prime ministers, monarchs and authors, these group of exceptional women illustrate that women can achieve anything no matter their age. Be motivated by their grit, perseverance, and passion.Inside find: Biographies of influential women such as Prime Minister Margert Thatcher, chef Julia Child, Mother Teressa, feminist Gloria Steinem, actress Rita Moreno, inventor Ruth Handler, Judge Judy Sheindlin, and many more Empowering quotes from strong women who refused to be kept down Motivational, inspirational, and educational stories of older women Be sure to read Marlene Wagman-Geller’s bestselling Women of Means, and her popular Women Who Launch, and Unabashed Women.
£13.29
Other Press LLC Diderot And The Art Of Thinking Freely
Book SynopsisA spirited biography of the prophetic and sympathetic philosopher who, along with Voltaire and Rousseau, helped build the foundations of the modern world.
£17.09
Peter Lang Publishing Inc Igniting a Fear Praxis for Teaching: Samuel N.
Book SynopsisWith current surging polarities of perspectives, dangerous culture wars and immanent threats to the human social and ecological fabric, it is a good time to rediscover the true meaning of fear through the eyes of a creative and endearingly outrageous educator who taught ‘Fear is not the enemy.’ Through a combination of fi ction and non-fiction, this book offers a fi rst documentation of the philosophy and story of Samuel Nathan Gillian Jr. (1939-2006), an African-American educator-activist from the Bronx, New York. Fisher takes readers on a journey of growth and development with a protagonist named Deana, a sophomore college student, as she comes to understand the radical importance of her Uncle Sammy’s life and work. Embellished with the intellectual rigor of a biography of a wise man, Fisher tracks his own relationship and those who knew and loved Samuel as the tension grows to a pitch in the story. Yet, the real brilliance lies in the psychological, philosophical and spiritual twists Sam Gillian brought forward in two stunning books on fear (2002, 2005) that this book revives. Fisher, who has studied fear systematically since 1989, has never met a unique thinker like Sam Gillian. Through Fisher’s eyes, the special signifi cance of Gillian’s work is brought to the general and well-educated reading public. An essential book for post-secondary education on fear management, a resource guide for school teachers, parents, psychologists, policy makers and anyone who seeks to help humanity establish a sustainable, moral and healthy relationship with fear.Trade ReviewI’ve followed Dr. Fisher's work for 20 years on the ways fear shapes our lives. He has emphasized by necessity our pressing gap in education, which his new book elaborates through the teachings of Samuel Gillian. We need to learn from this powerful force in shaping our collective futures. Dr. Fisher’s deep and thrilling work continues to outline both the theoretical dimensions of the issue and its impact on human capacities to live and thrive more sustainably together, with the many practical implications of the work for educators whether in schools, universities, politics, or workplaces. Importantly and timely, his work is even more required to guide us, as now we come face-to-face with intersecting global-local emergencies, in which our capacity to learn from fear will constitute a vital part of any potential solutions. Kent den Heyer, Ph.D Professor & Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Social Studies Department of Secondary Education University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta CanadaR. Michael Fisher, a leading fearologist and critical educator for the 21st century, steps forward with a potent intellectual biography of a great contemporary educator Samuel N. Gillian Jr. to guide us toward better understanding and managing fear. This is Fisher's third illuminating book on an outstanding educator (proceeded by biographies on Four Arrows and Marianne Williamson) who tackles the Fear Problem. While critically assessing why we need alternative worldviews in schooling and adult education today, Fisher’s book on Gillian is accessible and narratively complex. He offers a novel viewpoint into the life and courage of an African American educator who has been unknown to most. Fisher believes a true healthy pedagogy is one that, as Gillian argues, is necessarily steeped in an inquiry into the nature and role of fear. I commend Dr. Fisher on this new work. Arie Kizel Prof. Arie Kizel (PhD) Head, Pedagogical Development of Educational Systems MA Program Dept. of Learning and Instructional Sciences Faculty of Education University of Haifa Co-founder and President, Mediterranean Association for Philosophy with ChildrenTable of ContentsAcknowledgements – Preface – Introduction – Young People – Party of Freedom and Progress – The Other-Side – More or Less? – So I Thought – Still Gives You Chills – Higher Grounds-1 – Higher Grounds-2 – Higher Grounds-3 – Sobering Fearanalysis – Fear Wars-1 – Fear Wars-2 – Blazing a Solo Trail – Worse Than You – Fearless Psychology – Cannot Hide – Two and Two – Leaders – Index.
£57.60
Pegasus Books The Children of Athena: Greek Intellectuals in
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£24.00
