Biography Books

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Book SynopsisRainbow Valley is a novel written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. The story is set in the fictional Canadian town of Glen St. Mary and follows the adventures of the Blythe children, who live with their father, a widowed minister, and their Aunt Martha. The Blythe children make new friends in Rainbow Valley, including the wild Meredith children and the lonely Mary Vance. The novel explores themes of friendship, family, and the power of imagination. The children form a bond and create their own world in Rainbow Valley, where they can escape from the troubles of the adult world. The story also touches on more serious topics, such as poverty, social class, and religious tensions. Rainbow Valley is a heartwarming and nostalgic story that captures the joys and struggles of childhood. Montgomery's writing is full of vivid descriptions and charming characters that have made her a beloved author for generations of readers. The novel is part of the Anne of Green Gables series, but it can be enjoyed as a standalone story as well.

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Book SynopsisSalammbô is a historical novel written by Gustave Flaubert. The novel is set in ancient Carthage, during the Mercenary War (240238 BC), a conflict between the mercenaries of Carthage and the Carthaginian state. The story revolves around the character of Salammbô, the daughter of the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, and her forbidden love for the mercenary leader Matho. The story begins with the mercenaries demanding their payment from the Carthaginians, who are unable to pay due to financial difficulties. Matho, the leader of the mercenaries, falls in love with Salammbô after seeing her during a ceremony in the temple of the goddess Tanit. Salammbô, who is dedicated to the temple, is also drawn to Matho. However, their love is forbidden, and they face many obstacles in pursuing their feelings. Will Slammbo and Matho get together? The novel is a masterful work of historical fiction, combining Flaubert's meticulous research with his poetic prose.

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Book SynopsisThe Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom is a novel by Tobias Smollett. The story follows the titular character, a young man of unknown parentage who sets out to make his fortune in the world. Fathom is initially presented as charming and charismatic, but soon reveals himself to be a ruthless and deceitful opportunist. Fathom begins his adventures as a con artist, manipulating and swindling people for his own gain. He meets a variety of characters, including wealthy socialites, criminals, and members of the working class. Along the way, he engages in a variety of schemes, from gambling and forgery to seduction and murder. Despite his many misdeeds, Fathom manages to charm his way into the affections of several women, including a wealthy heiress and a virtuous young woman named Monimia. However, his schemes eventually catch up with him, and he is imprisoned and sentenced to death. In the end, he repents of his misdeeds and is spared from execution, but is left to live out his days in ignominy. The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom is a darkly comic satire that explores the themes of deception, morality, and class in 18th century society. It is considered one of Smollett's most important works and a notable contribution to the literary genre of picaresque fiction.

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Book SynopsisEminent Victorians is a seminal work of biography and social commentary published by British writer and critic Lytton Strachey. By offering four unique portrayals of notable Victorian people, the book challenges the standard approach to biography. Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Thomas Arnold, and General Charles Gordon are among Strachey's subjects. Strachey takes a sarcastic and critical perspective to their lives, rather than offering hagiographic narratives. He examines their shortcomings, paradoxes, and character complexity, presenting the human side of these great figures. Strachey's style is funny and astute, providing readers with a new perspective on these great figures. When it was initially released, the book's satirical tone and unorthodox biographical format generated quite a stir. Strachey's presentation of these illustrious Victorians as flawed and deficient questioned the conventional veneration for the era's heroes and heroines. Eminent Victorians is more than just a biography compilation; it's a critique of the Victorian society and beliefs that these figures embodied. Strachey's work was influential in altering the biography genre and encouraging a more nuanced and critical assessment of historical characters.

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Book SynopsisThe Bridge-Builders is a short story written by way of Rudyard Kipling, the renowned British author. The narrative is about in British-ruled India and centers across the construction of a railway bridge. The tale revolves across the characters Strickland, a British engineer, and his Indian counterpart, Riviere. As they work together on constructing the bridge, the tale explores the complexities of British colonialism in India. Kipling delves into subject matters of cultural conflict, mutual recognize, and cooperation between the British and the local population. The Bridge-Builders offers a poignant portrayal of the demanding situations and hardships faced by way of the laborers, a lot of whom are local Indians, in constructing the bridge. It highlights the inherent tensions among the colonial rulers and the colonized as they attempt to work collectively to obtain a common aim. Kipling's narrative skillfully captures the intricate web of relationships, hierarchies, and cultural dynamics at play within the British Raj. The tale no longer most effective serves as an exploration of colonial India but additionally as a reflection at the broader troubles of imperialism, colonialism, and the ethics of building bridgesboth literal and metaphorical. The Bridge-Builders is a thought-frightening paintings that exemplifies Kipling's knack for depicting the complexities of colonialism and the interaction between cultures, all inside the context of an apparently simple undertakingbuilding a bridge.

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Book SynopsisThe Place of Dragons is an interesting journey book written with the aid of the well-known British creator William Le Queux, who's recognised for his undercover agent and mystery books. It's an interesting blend of spying, mystery, and politics round the world. The tale is set the main individual, Richard Scarsmere, who gets stuck up in a complicated plan regarding espionage and political plots. In a time of political unrest and uncertainty in Europe, The Unusual takes readers on an interesting journey thru distinctive nations as Scarsmere uncovers a sinister plan concerning the enigmatic Place of Dragons. Le Queux really knows loads about writing secret agent testimonies because he crafts a story complete of mystery agencies, political video games, and unexpected turns. The book continues readers on the edge of their seats with its issues of strength, lies, and the shadowy global of international politics. The Place of Dragons is proof that Le Queux ought to write interesting undercover agent stories. The book remains a tremendous example of flip-of-the-century journey fiction because it has a complex plot, well-drawn characters, and a feel of looming danger. It takes readers on an interesting ride through the secret global of spies and conspiracies.

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Book SynopsisThis is the extraordinary story of the author’s twenty year quest to find gold coins which his father’s family buried in their backyard in Poland just prior to being deported by the Nazis into concentration camps. His father survived the war but died when the author was a teenager, leaving him only with the knowledge that he had buried coins somewhere in Poland, and no information about his family. During his quest, Biederman uncovers many interesting and disturbing facts about his father and mother and their families, such as the fact that his father was the third person on Oskar Schindler’s list and had a chance meeting with Adolph Hitler, and that his mother was selected as a cook for the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele. The book details the author’s quest to unearth his family’s past and his father’s treasure and continues with his parent’s amazing post-war years in Europe and their eventual arrival in North America.Table of Contents Introduction The Quest Begins 1993–1996: Relocating to Windsor 1996: Travel to Poland Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland: July 1944 Auschwitz-Birkenau: 1996 Krosno Airbase, Poland: August 27, 1941 Fate of My Father’s Family I Receive Unexpected News Maidstone Ontario: Spring 2001 New Information Changes Our Course December 4, 1939: Zeglarska 7, Lodz, Poland Europe: 2001 Majdanek Lodz Postwar Europe Maidstone, Ontario: 2001 through 2003 Yaron Svoray New York: July 2003 Maidstone, Ontario: 2003 Wednesday April 21, 2004: Maidstone, Ontario Poland: April 2004 Jedwabne Wolf’s Lair Berlin 1946 Warsaw: 2004 Windsor: Spring/Summer 2004 Lodz: October 2004 Wroclaw Gross-Rosen The Trip Home April 1949 and Beyond: The American Journey Back Home: Ontario, 2004 Late 2004–Present: Epilogue

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Book SynopsisTucked away in the eastern end of the Himalayas lies Bhutan - a tiny, landlocked country bordering China and India. Impossibly remote and nearly inaccessible, Bhutan is rich in natural beauty, exotic plants and animals, and crazy wisdom. It is a place where people are genuinely content with very few material possessions and the government embraces 'Gross National Happiness' instead of Gross National Product. In this funny, magical memoir, we accompany Linda Leaming on her travels through South Asia, sharing her experiences as she learns the language, customs and religion; her surprising romance with a Buddhist artist; and her realisations about the unexpected path to happiness and accidental enlightenment. As one of the few Americans to have lived in Bhutan, Leaming offers a rare glimpse into the quirky mountain kingdom so many have only dreamed of. For over ten years, Leaming has lived and worked in the capital city of Thimphu, where there are no traffic lights and fewer than 100,000 people. "If enlightenment is possible anywhere," she writes, "I think it is particularly possible here." With fantastic lessons from the Bhutanese way of life, beautiful evocations of this unspoiled land and a love story which is founded on the new peace she found in Bhutan, this book will appeal to anyone who wants to go on a voyage of discovery: to a foreign land or within the self.Trade ReviewAs engaging and magical as Bhutan itself, written with heart and insight, Married to Bhutan is a wonderful memoir and a great journey. Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief

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Book SynopsisWritten for the sister of a man who died from anorexia, this is a young woman's experience of the disorder while studying at the University of Oxford.

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Book SynopsisSometimes chilling but always compelling and unflinchingly honest, American Nazi is an unforgettable memoir that chronicles the extraordinary life of Jeff Schoep, the former national leader of America's largest Nazi party.

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Book Synopsis“A fascinating, exciting story.” — Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful MindWhile still in his early 20s, and under Hitler's shadow, Leonid “Leo” Hurwicz (1917-2008) left his home in Warsaw, Poland, seeking safety and a degree at the London School of Economics. The following years, while challenging and potentially life-threatening, contained the seeds of a lifelong intellectual adventure. Leo's story is personal (born a refugee, precarious war years for himself and his Polish-Jewish family, a new life in America), global (revolutions, wars, depressions), ideological (socialism, capitalism, economic planning, free markets) and professional (a sixty-year career as a professor of economics leading ultimately to a Nobel Prize). This book tells his story.Trade Review“A fascinating, exciting story.” — Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind“Before he became an economist, Leo Hurwicz led a dramatic life worthy of a Hollywood movie. Michael Hurwicz tells this story with verve, and also succeeds in explaining to a lay readership the deep contributions his father made to economic science. Terrific reading.”— Eric Maskin, Nobel laureate in Economics, Harvard University“Kudos to Michael Hurwicz, who has written a paean to his late father, Leo Hurwicz, an extraordinary economist, teacher, polymath, and polyglot, whose genial personality and sense of humor endeared him to many in the profession. Especially for those of us who primarily knew Leo in an academic context, this book provides the background story of his life and times. It is meticulously researched and well-written.”— Samiran Banerjee, Teaching Professor of Economics at Emory University and editor of The Collected Papers of Leonid Hurwicz: Volume 1“Michael Hurwicz gives us a unique attempt to clarify, for all those who knew Leo Hurwicz, the complex history of his family. Many of us who knew Leo had only a fragmentary understanding of this story. Michael tells it with loving care. He then proceeds to interweave ideas from Leo's work and to show, with tenderness, aspects of Leo as a father. A remarkable achievement.”— Thomas Marschak, University of California, Berkeley, CA“Hurwicz tells the story of a remarkable man. A man, who received a Nobel Prize in Economics at age 90, who was married to the same woman, Evelyn, from age 27 until his death, who was the father of four children, who was an excellent pianist with a repertoire that reached from Beethoven to folk songs, an inspired — and inspiring — teller of bed-time stories, a life-long learner and knower of, almost, everything, an active citizen, and, yes, did I mention the Nobel Prize in Economics at age 90?And Leo Hurwicz achieved all of this in spite of — or should we say, because of — the times of existential peril through which he and his extended family lived. … It is a context of revolutions, wars, antisemitism, persecution, and genocide. But it is also a context of resistance, persistence, ingenuity, courage, and creativity, of humanity in the face of barbarism.”— Jens Kruse, The OrcasonianTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsPrologue 1939, sierpień/août/August Born a Refugee Now or Never Home Safe? Get an Education! The Miracle Hurwicz Home School Crisis, Coup, Catastrophe Astrophysics, Chopin and Jazz Economics and Einstein Socialist Calculation Brown Shirts and Ghetto Benches Graduation Getaway Math, Models and Mechanisms Government Intervention A Lifeline Hurwiczes on the Run An Intellectual Warrior at the School for Peace Leo Hurwicz: “Excess Foreign Population” Geneva to Chicago by Way of Locarno, Barcelona and Lisbon Chicago and MIT Surprise Attack Honey A Little Bit Unruly The Great Book Review A Slow and Difficult Process Just a Closer Walk with Stan Blood, Fire, Smoke, Exile and Human Kindness Mechanism Design: Development and Recognition Appendix A. Leo’s MemorialAppendix B. A Celebration of Leo's 90th Birthday, Held at the Holiday Inn Metrodome, 1500 Washington Avenue South, in Minneapolis on April 14, 2007Appendix C. The Theory of Economic Behavior, by Leonid HurwiczAppendix D. The Hurwicz CriterionAppendix E. Edited transcript of 2007 interview with Leo, conducted by the authorAppendix F. A Timeline of the Life of Leo HurwiczAppendix G. What Is Mechanism Design?

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Book SynopsisRoy and Zhores Medvedev, two identical twins with a unique fate, not only lived through a whole century of history, from Stalin to Putin, they wrote and made history. Their research on Stalinism, the first to come out of the Soviet Union in the 1960s-1970s, turned them into famous dissidents overnight, but their criticism of the regime always remained loyal to Soviet power. The story of their lives provides a snapshot into the history of Soviet dissent, from psychiatric hospitalization to forced exile, and from KGB interrogations to collaboration with Western news correspondents. Yet their trajectory was also marred by controversy with fellow dissidents, and in the post-Soviet era active support of authoritarian rulers, including Vladimir Putin. Trade Review“Yet even when Martin gives the brothers full voice, it is to her credit that they don't always appear noble, ethical or as smart as they seem to think. Roy comes across as brave, conspiratorial, vainglorious and ethically compromised. Zhores was less political and ideological, but then again, he lived primarily abroad until his death in 2018. … For those who remember the brothers' publications from the 1970s and 1980s, Roy and Zhores Medvedev will provide much new detail and nuance. It may be tempting from afar to disparage their ‘loyal dissent’, but Barbara Martin reminds us that they carved out this position at great personal risk to their family and themselves. For those who have not followed their more recent story, however, the book will provide a sobering perspective on the value of a loyal Russian opposition.”— Ethan Pollock, Times Literary Supplement“Historian Barbara Martin has written a compelling dual biography of brothers Zhores and Roy Medvedev, who gained fame for their ‘dissident’ writings in the late Soviet period even as they advocated for the reform of socialism not its abandonment. Martin traces their respective careers, deftly summarizes their prolific writings, and shows how they navigated pressure from the state and rebutted critiques from the regime’s more radical opponents. This study is particularly valuable for its meticulous and judicious delineation of differences among Soviet era non-conformists. Martin also analyzes Roy Medvedev’s turn toward writing laudatory biographies of Nazarbaev, Lukashenko, and Putin.”— Dr. Kathleen Smith, Professor of Teaching, Georgetown University“If we want to understand today's Russia, we need to know the biographies of its people and their winding lives, which are almost unimaginable in the West. Barbara Martin presents two such keys to Putin's Russia in the form of the ‘loyal dissidents,’ the Medvedev twins, one the famous author of Let History Judge, the other a recalcitrant biologist forced into exile in Britain in 1973. One can have been persecuted, arrested, and harassed by the Soviet state himself and still conclude that Russia must be led by a ‘strong hand.’ An important book!”— Susanne Schattenberg, author of Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman (2022)“Roy and Zhores Medvedev are amongst the most fascinating and important figures in the history of Soviet dissent, but much about them has remained unknown or poorly understood until now. Barbara Martin’s account offers a meticulously researched and richly detailed history of the brothers’ parallel, but very different, lives in the Soviet Union, Western Europe, and the USA. Drawing on a huge amount of new archival and interview material, Martin traces their lives and activities across many fields, including history, science, and political activism, and through the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. The first joint biography in English, this landmark study is likely to remain the standard work for many years to come. More than just a biography, though, this new study also casts new light on the diverse practices and politics of dissidence, representing a major contribution to the new wave of scholarship on Soviet dissent.” — Polly Jones, Professor of Russian, University of OxfordTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsList of AbbreviationsNote on ArchivesIntroductionChapter 1. A Youth in Stalin’s Shadow Chapter 2. A Crusade in Soviet BiologyChapter 3. Stalin Is No MoreChapter 4. Making Sense of StalinismChapter 5. Rebellious IntelligentsiaChapter 6. A Question of MadnessChapter 7. New ThreatsChapter 8. Into ExileChapter 9. Carving a “Third Way” in the Cold WarChapter 10. Solzhenitsyn: The End of a FriendshipChapter 11. Finding and Losing Political AlliesChapter 12. Under the KGB’s WatchChapter 13. Andropov’s ProtectionChapter 14. The Nuclear ThreatChapter 15. The Rise and Fall of Gorbachev’s Socialist DemocracyChapter 16. The End of the Soviet OrderChapter 17. Praising the Strong Rulers

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Book Synopsis"This standout survivor’s account will move and inform even those well versed in the inhumanity of the Shoah." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)Ita Dimant’s gripping diary is a detailed account of her experiences during the Holocaust. She describes the chaotic living conditions in the Warsaw ghetto and her dramatic escape to the ‘Aryan’ side. She wrestles repeatedly with the burden of losing close friends and family, revealing her emotional responses to the unfolding tragedy. As one ghetto after another is liquidated, she becomes a courier carrying vital information and supplies between Polish cities. Ita must rely on her wits, skillful deception, and a few trusted friends, as she seeks to evade the noose closing around her. Trade Review“In this posthumous soul-wrenching memoir, Dimant… reconstructs and expands a diary she’d kept during the Nazi occupation of the Warsaw Ghetto… There’s a palpable urgency to Dimant’s writing, which is haunted by the specter of almost unbearable regret… This standout survivor’s account will move and inform even those well versed in the inhumanity of the Shoah.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Archiv­ing the vast, diverse expe­ri­ences of Jews dur­ing the Holo­caust is an impor­tant his­tor­i­cal task — and Sur­vival is a wel­come addi­tion to the canon. … [T]he memoir’s com­bi­na­tion of eye­wit­ness tes­ti­mo­ny and trea­sure-trove pho­tographs makes Ita’s sto­ry come to life. Those who are inter­est­ed in Jew­ish-led resis­tance move­ments, as well as women’s roles with­in them, will find this book par­tic­u­lar­ly compelling.”— Leah Grisham, Jewish Book Council“Ita Dimant's diary is an extraordinary and harrowing account of bravery, resilience, and loss. Translated by Teresa Pollin and edited by Martin Dean, with an introduction by the author's son, Jacob Dimant, this new volume will serve as a valuable and compelling resource for researchers, educators, and general readers, detailing one woman's story of courage and survival, amidst the destruction of a people. This is a fascinating account written and re-written three times over during the course of the war, a testament to Ita’s determination not only to survive, but to bear witness to the tragic scenes she endured in the ghettos of Warsaw, Częstochowa, and elsewhere in Poland through her work as an underground courier, as well as in slave labor in Germany. Ita's survival was a product of remarkable courage, determination, profound resilience, occasional acts of kindness, and no small measure of luck.”— Avinoam J. Patt, Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies, University of Connecticut; author of The Jewish Heroes of Warsaw: The Afterlife of the Revolt“When I first read the manuscript of Ita Dimant’s diary, I was very touched by the author’s personality, her literary talent, her detailed description of everyday life in the Warsaw and Częstochowa ghettos, and by the power of Ita’s spiritual resistance. This extraordinary testimony of the Holocaust should be read by as many people as possible.When I met Ita Dimant in person, she was full of warmth and had a great sense of humor. For me, she will always remain a heroine of everyday life, despite the hunger and suffering, covering the table in the ghetto with a white tablecloth. Her moving diary describes with compassion and accuracy the struggles Jews endured in German-occupied Poland, both inside and outside the ghetto.”— Barbara Engelking, Founder and Director of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research“What makes this diary stand out from other diaries of women Holocaust survivors is not only the multi-layered and readable character at the heart of its narrative, but the fact that we are able to follow the story of a woman who did not consider herself special or brave but had no other choice but to become so as she fought to survive. During this process, she learned a lot about how easy it would be to forget how important doing good in the face of evil could be. Always keeping a good pair of shoes nearby, she never allowed herself the luxury of not remaining vigilant or preparing her loved ones for possible flight. With the help of an excellent translator and editor, her diary shares the moving story of becoming a survivor against all odds.”— Andrea Peto, Professor, Central European University, ViennaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: A Story of Courage and Survival by Jacob DimantPrologue by Ita Dimant (published originally with the 1993 English and Hebrew editions)The DiaryThe Warsaw Ghetto YearsThe Częstochowa YearLeaving for GermanyFreedom Epilogue by Jacob Dimant Courage and Survival—Symcha Dymant by Jacob DimantAppendix 1: The Brust Notebook DiaryAppendix 2: A Diary in Note FormAppendix 3: Documents, Photographs, and Artifacts Donated to the USHMM by the Dimant FamilyAppendix 4: Miodownik Family TreeList of Illustrations

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Book SynopsisRoger Garaudy was for many years at the centre of the French Communist Party but was eventually expelled for his liberal views. In the Seventies, he strove to bring Marxism and Christianity together, to include all humanity in a project to set all people free. What emerges from Garaudy’s project is a very modern Marxism, with its emphasis on the individual, its ecological politics, and in its insistence on religion as central to human emancipation. Although Garaudy himself became frustrated by the failure of Marxism and converted to Islam, eventually resulting in his work being discredited in the West, it is certainly possible that Garaudy’s project represents a good, perhaps even the best, starting point for Marxism in today’s world.Trade Review“Occasionally, certain studies throw a vivid light on the gloomy bookshelves of the history of ideas. Such is Julian Roche’s book. The author shares with the French philosopher, once the leading intellectual of the French Communist Party, the singular ambition of synthesizing Christian faith and Marxism. Roger Garaudy’s project, after he was expelled by what he called a Stalinist party, was indeed to insert transcendence (the actual love of God rather than the mere philosophical concept) in the revolutionary anti-capitalist project of accomplishing social justice on earth. Roche’s disappointment lies in what he considers as the betrayal of his project by Garaudy himself as he converted to Islam—thus opening the door to a subsequent drift into radical anti-Zionism that associated him with Holocaust denial. He takes up Garaudy’s project where the French philosopher would have abandoned it, and makes a valuable intellectual contribution to a project that is close to his heart: uniting faith in Christ and the aspiration for justice on earth. A thought-provoking and stimulating book."— Dr. Didier J.-F. Gauvin, author of Un intellectuel communiste illégitime: Roger GaraudyTable of ContentsChapter One: Why Roger Garaudy Still Matters Chapter Two: Did Others Take Garaudy Seriously? Chapter Three: Garaudy’s Project Chapter Four: The Role of Subjectivity in the Project Chapter Five: The Role of Transcendence in the Project Chapter Six: Garaudy’s Conversion to Islam Chapter Seven: The Project Revised Conclusion Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn the 18th century the first American medical school was established in Philadelphia. Following the model of European universities, anatomical lectures were conducted with cadavers. But where did the bodies come from? Dissection was viewed as a fate worse than death, and the only legal source of stiffs was executed criminals. But there were not enough. As the medical profession and its need for anatomical material grew, a new, macabre practice emerged: body snatching.Body snatchers secretly obtained bodies from cemeteries and sold them to medical schools for dissection. But how did body snatching work? How did body snatchers and medical schools avoid getting caught, and what happened when they did? How did the era of the body snatchers end? Grave Dealings: Body Snatching In Philadelphia, 1762-1883 digs through archives to unearth the forgotten history of a time of graveyard patrols and anatomy riots, when the dead needed protection from the living. Philadelphia pioneered and became the center of American medical education and practiceand body snatchingin the 18th and 19th centuries.Grave Dealings explores the social, cultural, practical, and legal aspects of body snatching in America's first capital city and relates it to the continuing ethical struggles that surround the treatment of human remains to this day.

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Book SynopsisA frontline eyewitness account of the Syrian Revolution from prizewinning journalist and activistHadi Alabdallah. Hadi Alabdallah was an emergency medicine student in his mid-twenties when he became a citizen journalist, covering the attack by Assad's forces on the city of Homs in 2013. He and his colleague were the first to document evidence Hezbollah was fighting for the regime. After breaking the story, which changed the course of the war as it became clear Iran and also Russia were in alliance with Assad, Alabdallah became a sought after and trusted voice on social media, where he joined the ranks of cyber-dissenters. His memoir tracks his experience upon leaving his studies to become a first responder during the Arab Spring uprisings, through 2020, by which time he had fled north to Idlib Province among the rebel factions, which posed their own dangers to young reporters. Astonishing for its rendering of friendships forged during the emotional impacts of war, Alabdallah's friends and colleagues collectively dedicated their lives to the truth and to each other, though they risked capture, prison, torture, or death every day. Using creative language and style, Critical Cases explores not only the political concerns of the author and his closest friends, but gives centrality to their feelings during the life-changing mission they undertook by challenging the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Critically injured in an assassination attempt in Aleppo in 2016, Alabdallah spent months in recovery in Turkey, where he was interviewed for a multimedia feature on The New York Times. Later that year, he won the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize. Alabdallah's new Afterword remarks on the liberation of his country and the challenges that lie ahead.

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