History Books

Book SynopsisA landmark reissue of Studs Terkel’s classic microcosm of America, with a new foreword by the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-creator of the Division Street Revisited podcast“Remarkable. . . . Division Street astonishes, dismays, exhilarates.”—The New York TimesWhen New Press founder André Schiffrin first published Division Street in 1967, Studs Terkel’s reputation as America’s foremost oral historian was established overnight.Approaching Chicagoans as emblematic of the nation at large, Terkel set out with his tape recorder and spent a year talking to over seventy people about race, family, education, work, prospects for the future—all topics that remain deeply contentious today. Subjects included a Black woman who attended the 1963 March on Washington, a tool-and-die make

Read more less

Book SynopsisIs the future about to close in, or is it open to new horizons? For anthropologist Tim Ingold, the root of our difficulty in facing up to the future lies in the way we think about generations. We imagine them as layers, succeeding one another like sheets in a stack. This view figures as a largely unquestioned backdrop to discussions of evolution, life and death, longevity, extinction, sustainability, education, climate change and other matters of contemporary concern. What if we were to think of generations, instead, as wrapping around one another along their length, more like fibres in a rope than stacked sheets? In this compelling new book, Ingold argues that a return to the idea that life is forged in the collaboration of overlapping generations might not only assuage some of our anxieties, but also offer a lasting foundation for future coexistence. But it would mean having to abandon our faith both in the inevitability of progress, and in the ability of science and technology to cushion humanity from environmental impacts. A perfect world is not around the corner, nor will our troubles ever end. Nevertheless, for as long as life continues, there is hope for generations to come.Trade Review‘Ingold asserts the urgent need to reimagine and re-enact the relationship between past, present and future, arguing for the importance of collaboration and reciprocal learning across generations. He advances a proposal for a form of education that would unite the wisdom of elders with the curiosity of the young.’Stuart McLean, University of Minnesota‘Inspiring and beautifully written, Tim Ingold’s new book contemplates life and the relations that sustain it. Turning attention to the idea of generation, and with hope for the possibilities of collaboration, Ingold opens out and responds to crucial questions about time, growth, remembering, loss and continuity.’Elizabeth Hallam, University of OxfordTable of ContentsPreface List of Figures Chapter 1: Generations and the Regeneration of Life Chapter 2: Modelling the Human Life Course Chapter 3: Remembering the Way Chapter 4: Uncertainty and Possibility Chapter 5: Loss and Extinction Chapter 6: Recentring Anthropos Chapter 7: The Way of Education Chapter 8: After Science and Technology Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisExam board: AQALevel: A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2016First exams: Summer 2017 (AS); Summer 2018 (A-level)Target success in AQA AS/A-level History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision; key content coverage is combined with exam preparation activities and exam-style questions to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge.- Enables students to plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner- Consolidates knowledge with clear and focused content coverage, organised into easy-to-revise chunks- Encourages active revision by closely combining historical content with related activities- Helps students build, practise and enhance their exam skills as they progress through activities set at three different levels- Improves exam technique through exam-style questions with sample answers and commentary from expert authors and teachers- Boosts historical knowledge with a useful glossary and timeline

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new edition of the most important free speech book of the past half-century, with a new essay by the author on the ensuing fifty years of First Amendment controversiesWhen Nazis wanted to express their right to free speech in 1977 by marching through Skokie, Illinoisa town with a large population of Holocaust survivorsAryeh Neier, then the national director of the ACLU and himself a Holocaust survivorcame to the Nazis' defense. Explaining what many saw as a despicable bridge too far for the First Amendment, Neier spelled out his thoughts about free speech in his 1977 book Defending My Enemy. Now, nearly fifty years later, Neier revisits the topic of free speech in a volume that includes his original essay along with an extended new piece addressing some of the most controversial free speech issues of the past half-century. Touching on hot-button First Amendment topics currently in play, the second half of the book includes First Amendment analysis of the Unite the Right march in Charlotteville, campus protest over the Israel/Gaza war, book banning, trigger warnings, right-wing hate speech, the heckler's veto, and the recent attempts by public figures including Donald Trump to overturn the long-standing Sullivan v. The New York Times precedent shielding the media from libel claims. Including an afterword by longtime free speech champion Nadine Strossen, Defending My Enemy offers razor-sharp analysis from the man Muck Rack describes as having a glittering civil liberties résumé.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis study explores pre- and extra-marital relationships among the gentry and nobility of the north of England from 1450 to 1640: the keeping of mistresses, the taking of lovers, the birth of illegitimate children and the fate of those children. It challenges assumptions about the extent to which such activities declined in the period, and hence about the impact of Protestantism and other changes to the culture of the elite. A major contribution to the literature on marriage and sexual relationships, family, kinship and gender, it is aimed at an academic readership in the fields of social and political history.Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Background and legal framework2 The extent of bastardy among the elite3 The role and status of the mistress4 Gentlewomen and their lovers5 The ‘wronged’ partner6 The bastard childrenConclusionIndex

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe bloody eight-year Iran-Iraq war is now almost forgotten, overshadowed by the subsequent Gulf War and Iraq War. However, it is best remembered for the unique so-called 'Tanker War' which threatened to strangle the world's oil supplies. At the time Tucker-Jones as a defence analyst wrote extensively on the war and now brings his expertise to bear with this account of a conflict fuelled by festering regional rivalries, the Cold War and the emerging threat posed by militant Shia Islam. Fought on land, at sea and in the air using some of the most modern weapons money could buy, Western-backed Saddam Hussein's Sunni Iraq and Shia Iran under the ayatollahs fought themselves to a standstill. Once Saddam's armoured blitzkrieg had been halted and Iran's human-wave counterattacks fought off, it became a war of attrition with major battles fought for the possession of Khorramshahr and Basra. Both sides resorted to chemical weapons and bombarding each other with missiles. When the war spilled over into the waters of the Gulf it sparked open Western intervention. Escalating attacks on oil tankers finally culminated in a ceasefire.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is an invaluable ‘tool of the trade’ for anyone trying to identify or interpret photos. – Peter Hart, Military Historian This fascinating and impressively-researched volume will become an invaluable resource for all on a quest to find out about family members who served as well as those who have a fascination with the details of British military history. - Col. Richard Kemp CBE former military head of COBR and commander British Forces, Afghanistan Identifying Cap Badges is the book that has been missing from the bookshelves of family historians, military enthusiasts, and badge collectors alike. It is quite easy to find an erudite book on military cap badges, but you could spend hours, if not days, plodding through hundreds of pictures to find a match for the one you hold. Sometimes you may not find it at all! These learned badge collector's books have one major flaw; they are pictured and discussed in 'order of precedence', that is to say, from the earliest formed regiments to the latest, with separate sections on medical, engineers, cavalry, infantry, etc. This can be most confusing to those uninitiated into the 'dark arts' of military badges. Thus, if you do not know the name or 'original number' of your regiment in this order of precedence, you can be flummoxed! This, combined with all the different crowns, laurels, animals, mythological beasts and castles, can prove more than a little daunting, even to ex soldiers themselves! In this book you will find badges ordered by what is on the badge itself; be it a dragon, sphinx or castle, horse, lion or tiger. This is badge identification in minutes, rather than hours, with added information on dating badges and many comparison photographs alongside all the pictures of the badges. Added to these pictures are short histories of the regiments and 'family trees' plotting the antecedents of today's units.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the fall of 1863, Knoxville came under Union occupation, and troops went immediately to work to strengthen existing defenses and construct new ones. The most important of these was the earthwork atop a hill west of the city that came to be known as Fort Sanders. The fort would be the site of a critical battle on November 29, in which General James Longstreet’s Southern forces mounted a bold but ill-conceived assault that lasted only twenty minutes yet resulted in over eight hundred Rebel casualties. The completion of the fort under General Davis Tilson would safeguard Knoxville from further attack for the rest of the war.Rediscovering Fort Sanders is a unique book that combines a narrative history of pre-Civil War Knoxville, the war years and continuing construction of Fort Sanders, the failed attempts to preserve the postwar fort, and the events which led to its almost total destruction. Research by Terry and Charles Faulkner resulted in two major discoveries: the fort was actually located a block farther to the west then previously recognized, and there are still identifiable remnants of the fortification where none were believed to exist.More than just a chronicle of a significant chapter in Civil War and postwar history, this book will inspire others to continue the effort to ensure that the site and remains of Fort Sanders are preserved and properly commemorated for future generations.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWith its futuristic and unmistakable design, the Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk, the so-called 'Stealth Fighter', was the wonder of the age. Virtually undetectable by radar, this ground-attack aircraft could slip unseen through enemy defences to deliver its deadly payload on unsuspecting targets. Its effectiveness had been well demonstrated during the Gulf War of 1991, during which the F-117A achieved almost legendary status. But, at 20.42 hours on 27 March 1999, the military and aviation worlds were stunned when the impossible happened - a virtually obsolete Soviet-built surface-to-air missile system which had first been developed more than thirty years earlier, detected and shot down an F-117A, callsign 'Vega 31'. This incident took place during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. It was, and remains, at least officially, the only time that a stealth aircraft was detected and shot down by a ground-based missile system. In this book the authors, both of whom served in the Kosovo War, take the reader through every moment of that astounding event, from both the perspective of Lieutenant Colonel Dani's 3rd Battalion, 250th Air Defence Missile Brigade, a Yugolsav Army unit, and that of the pilot of the F-117A, Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Patrick Zelko, who ejected and survived the loss of his aircraft. The reader is placed in the cabin of the missile fire control centre and alongside 'Dale' Zelko in the cockpit of his stealth fighter as each second dramatically unfolds. Stealth characteristics are now regarded as a standard part of modern military aircraft design but with each generation of aircraft becoming increasingly, almost cripplingly, expensive to produce and operate compared with the simpler surface-to-air defence systems, the outcome of the battle between missile and stealth hangs in the balance. That this is the case might be seen in the strange fact that it is claimed that two other F-117As did not return to the U.S. at the end of the Kosovo War, though, mysteriously, their fate has never been revealed. Were they too victims of Yugoslav missiles? Though intended for the general reader, _Shooting Down the Stealth Fighter_ covers the technical details of the weapons involved and their deployment - and the authors should know, as one of them, Djordje Anicic, was a member of the Yugoslav team which brought down Zelko's aircraft.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe book covers the story of Britains search for its identity before and after the arrival of Christianity, leading up to the invention of the seeds of the Brutus myth in the 600s AD. It charts the development of his myth into a fully blown adventure story under the pen of Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 1100s. It then explores Brutuss story through the Middle Ages, as the centrepiece of Britains national consciousness and an important tool in royal and national propaganda and foreign policy (i.e. his myth was used as an excuse for invading Wales and Scotland). The book then charts the way his myth dropped out of mainstream politics and history after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and lived on in a new afterlife in literature. Though no longer part of the way Britain sees itself now (though maybe this book will change that!), the Brutus myth has been used in many alternative theories about Britains origins and is still believed in by a small but hard core of Christians who see him as the divine instrument by which the ancestors of the Americans reached Britain in the first placeTrade Review"...intricate, fascinating and densely written account of national identity and dreaming aspiration over 1,500 years... 'Blake's vision of Albion's capital conflated with the rebuilding of Jerusalem is a relatively late addition of the rich mixture of the Brutus myth... The list Adolph has quarried out of those who adopted the Brutus story as material for their own creations is a roll call of the great, the half-great, the eccentric and the obsessed', from Spenser and Milton down to Nahum Tate, Purcell, Pope, Blake and beyond, 'and in our time the pallimpset of the Brutus myth has burgeoned again in novels, with some Irish, transatlantic or Israeli extras added to it. Brutus is still there, beneath London's "dreaming hills". But on the evidence of Adolph's excellent book, sleep he does not'."--Barbara Jarvis "History Today" (6/1/2016 12:00:00 AM) "Anthony Adolph is a leading professional genealogist, with a strong interest in tracing family ancestors back as far as possible. As explained in some of his other works, the ancients, having no written sources to refer to, sought to determine their own family history by drawing on oral information handed down through the generations, along with legends and mythological stories, which formed the basis of their research. One of the greatest examples of oral history which we know, is that of the Trojan War as told by Homer, with Aeneas, the Trojan hero, who led refugees away from the burning city of Troy and who subsequently became a Roman hero in Virgil's Aeneid. This book seek to link the history of the British nation with Brutus of Troy, who was the ... great grandson of Aeneas... This is a fascinating and very enjoyable account of how our forefathers used the story of Brutus of Troy to link their ancestry to the narratives and legends of the past"--Barbara Jarvis "Genealogists' Magazine" (6/1/2016 12:00:00 AM) "It is immediately apparent that Anthony Adolph has exhausted every resource at his disposal. The conclusion of which lead to an extremely well researched publication...would definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in both Classical and Medieval literature."-- "Ancient Origins" "On his last book, In Search of Our Ancient Ancestors, Anthony Adolph gave us a long view of genealogy, exploring the pedigree of the human race, and the British in particular, since primeval times. This book is a sequel in a sense, but now moves away from what science and history have told us into more mythological territory, to explore what might be described as the 'psychological ancestry' of the British. Here the story begins with the legendary figure of Brutus, whom the 9th century chronicler Nennius claimed gave his name to our islands. His account, as with so much of our earliest 'history', was then much embellished by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12th century. The result is a fascinating account of how the British people have mythologised themselves as 'New Trojans' - although Brutus (whom nobody today claims as a historical figure) is himself generally forgotten today, his legacy is certainly with us, every time we sing Jerusalem or visit a place claimed to be linked to King Arthur. READ IT FOR: A unique exploration of the ancient foundations of being British."-- "Your Family History" "The result of ten years research...this book probes deep into Brutus' origins, the growth of his legend and its hay day under the Tudor dynasty, and the subsequent fading of his story from mainstream consciousness, due largely to the rise of Britannia as a new embodiment of all that Brutus stood for- the very essence of the Island of Britain."-- "Reunite Magazine" completely recasts the notion of "ancient' ancestry by looking not at DNA. archaeology. or genealogical records, but at the history of an idea...This book, by exploring the literary history of the Brutus tradition, offers a lesson in how genealogy evolved as a Iiterary form, and how royal genealogy-real or fictitious-played an important part in the development of a national identity, both in Britain and in other countriesthat had their own parallel traditions--Barbara Jarvis "The American Genealogist" (6/1/2016 12:00:00 AM) Britain's History seen though its national myth"-- "The Telegraph"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat was served at President James K. Polk’s White House dinners? What foods graced the table of John Sevier, Tennessee’s First Governor? In Taproots of Tennessee, Lynne Drysdale Patterson answers these questions and more, exploring nearly two centuries of Tennessee foodways. Readers will discover that Tennessee taste encompasses the exquisite, such as President Polk’s French-inspired Croquettes Poulet with Bechamel Sauce and General James Winchester’s spoils-of-the-hunt Roast Goode with Wild Rice and Wild Fox Grape Stuffing, to simpler fair, including Dr. Humphrey Howell Bate’s fried pies and Alex Haley’s boyhood menu of sweet tea and Southern staples.Patterson takes readers on a historical and culinary tour of the Tennessee Historical Commission’s seventeen state historic sites with a collection of period foods from each site and menus with updated recipes for the twenty-first century food enthusiast. Patterson’s site histories provide readers with a journey through the accounts of Tennessee’s early settlers, their homesteads, cookery, schoolhouses, stage coach stops, and religious life. Her site recipes range from historic offerings, such as peaches from General Daniel Smith’s Rock Castle State Historic Site orchard fashioned into a delectable peach pound cake-potentially shared with neighbors Andrew and Rachel Donelson Jackson-to more modern representations of historic foodways, such as Scottish-influenced Scotch Barley Soup and Scotch Egg likely eaten by Sam Houston.From homes of Tennessee’s first families to stagecoach stops in the 1830s, from Civil War command posts to rural schoolhouses, foodies and academics alike will delight in this compendium of Southern recipes, served with a generous helping of history.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Lovely... delivers the warmest of glows' - Telegraph'Who wouldn't love this chocolate-box delight of insights and snapshots of The Queen...A treasure chest' - Good HousekeepingA sparkling celebration of our much-loved Queen Elizabeth II including special writings and illuminating insights around key moments in her 70-year reign, introduced and edited by her biggest fan Joanna Lumley.In 2022 Queen Elizabeth II celebrated seventy years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. She was Britain's longest reigning monarch and the very first to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. A Queen For All Seasons, edited and introduced by Joanna Lumley, is a perceptive, touching and engaging tribute to this unique woman. A treasure chest of first-hand writings, insights and snapshots of the Queen during key moments of her reign to form a vibrant portrait of the woman herself and the extraordinary role she played. Joanna Lumley guides us as we meet Princess Elizabeth in 1952, aged just twenty-five, and about to become Queen, and in more recent events, as our matriarch, the Queen kept the national ship steady through seven decades, including in moments of crisis and suffering. Here are unique perspectives into some of the most fascinating aspects of the Queen's life - her role as head of state at home and abroad, her private passions and public interests and a bird's-eye look at key events that have held the nation together and the Queen in our affection throughout Britain and beyond.This book is a special and unique portrait of the life of Queen Elizabeth II.Trade ReviewLovely...Delivers the warmest of glows * TELEGRAPH *Lovely...Delivers the warmest of glows * TELEGRAPH *You couldn't ask for more cheerful company than Joanna Lumley to lead you through an anthology of the Queen...moving * Daily Mail *You couldn't ask for more cheerful company than Joanna Lumley to lead you through an anthology of the Queen...moving * Daily Mail *A fascinating portrait of Her Majesty * My Weekly *A fascinating portrait of Her Majesty * My Weekly *You'll find interesting snippets about protocol, fashion and events - its definitely one to pull out after the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day. * PRESS ASSOCIATION *You'll find interesting snippets about protocol, fashion and events - its definitely one to pull out after the Queen's Speech on Christmas Day. * PRESS ASSOCIATION *A touching tribute to a remarkable woman * Woman *A touching tribute to a remarkable woman * Woman *Full of golden memories from people of all walks of life, it offers a wonderful and unique insight into Her Majesty's life * THE PEOPLES FRIEND *Full of golden memories from people of all walks of life, it offers a wonderful and unique insight into Her Majesty's life * THE PEOPLES FRIEND *Who wouldn't love this chocolate-box delight of insights and snapshots of The Queen...A treasure chest * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING *Who wouldn't love this chocolate-box delight of insights and snapshots of The Queen...A treasure chest * GOOD HOUSEKEEPING *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA concise yet comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate, with biographies of the great karate mastersThis concise-yet-comprehensive history of traditional Okinawan and Japanese karate includes authoritative biographies of the great karate masters of the past and the philosophical issues they faced as karate changed and evolved. Bringing a fresh understanding to the study of the martial arts, Mark I. Cramer dispels many of the often-repeated martial-arts myths as he details the lineages of the modern styles of karate and describes the social, cultural, and political events that influenced them. While most books focus on a single style of karate or the biography of just one of the great teachers, this book offers a well-researched and detailed overview. By bringing all of this knowledge together in one volume, Cramer?an award-winning inductee into the USA Karate Federation?s Hall of Fame?fills a crucial gap.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA joy to read Times Literary Supplement[A] stirring and accessible history of the mighty Rhine Irish TimesIt''s easy to be swept away by Deen''s delightful prose New StatesmanA beautiful book, by turns poetic, witty and full of learning . . . This unique biography of a river marks a new kind of writing about people and place, both in and out of time PATRICK McGUINNESSThe Boundless River takes the reader into a unique world ? the twilight zone between fact and fiction, science and imagination ? and on a journey which moves effortlessly from a time in prehistory, long before the existence of a European continent, to the present day. Along the way Deen encounters paleontologists, geologists, museum curators, taxidermists, fishermen and skippers who work the boats, who still see the Rhine as a living entity.From the mighty hippos that swam in its waters millions of years ago, to the we

Read more less

Book SynopsisInstant New York Times Bestseller  In this “gripping account of catastrophic defeat” (Barry Strauss), a New York Times–bestselling historian charts how and why some societies chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time “In The End of Everything, Hanson tells compelling and harrowing stories of how civilizations perished. He helps us consider contemporary affairs in light of that history, think about the unthinkable, and recognize the urgency of trying to prevent our own demise.” — H. R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization—sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling the end of political systems, cultures, and

Read more less

Book SynopsisA comprehensive guide to the medicinal plants and folk healers of Eastern Europe?s Pale of Settlement?mapping ancestral folkways, herbal traditions, and shared legacies of Ashkenazi Jews and their neighbors Includes a materia medica of healing plants and their traditional applicationsA companion guide to Ashkenazi Herbalism, Woven Roots explores the rich history of plant-based medicine and folk healing traditions of Eastern Europe from 1600 through the present.Authors Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel map the interwoven histories of the peoples of the Pale of Settlement, revealing untold stories of cooperation, shared knowledge, and mutual aid. The book shares how the people in this region?so often associated with conflict?often thrived in deep and reciprocal relationships with the land and each other. Tending and relying on the natural world, caring for their communities, and transmitting medicinal legacies from generation to generation, the healers of the Pale served as profound points of connection, interdependence, and life-sustaining knowledge.The authors offer illuminating?and surprising?original research on: The pivotal but historically overlooked contributions of women folk healers Deep, ancestrally rooted traditions of care for land and nature among Ashkenazi Jews The rich cultural exchanges among Jews, Muslims, and Christians that allowed life in the Pale to flourish Newly discovered recipes Enduring legacies of mutual aid and community interdependence How long-lost links between Eastern and Western folk knowledge can shed new light on your heritage and ancestral connections Traditional magical practices of the Ashkenazim This book includes an illustrated materia medica with plant names in Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and more. Informed by years of field and academic research, Woven Roots recovers the legacies of Jewish healers beyond myth, offering insights into the healing wisdom and interethnic cultural exchanges among marginalized groups in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of military technology from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era -- five-hundred-year-long "age of firepower" during which the evolution of weaponry transformed the conduct of warfare in the West.Weapons technology had always influenced warfare. But the introduction of gunpowder weapons at the close of the Middle Ages made military technology the largest single factor shaping warfare's tactics, strategy, and logistics. Over the five centuries leading up to World War II, the art of war revolved around the ever-more-effective delivery of firepower, and the driving force of weapons development was the compulsion to make that possible. But for centuries, even as it became more effective, military weaponry remained simple and affordable enough that nearly any state could afford to equip a respectable army; weapons could be used and used again until they physically wore out. That all changed, very suddenly, around 1870. Widespread industrialization and rapid advances in metallurgy and chemistry meant that by the start of World War I, only a handful of great powers could afford to manufacture their own weapons. Revolutions in military technology, in short, triggered a revolution in the structure of power in the West, significantly reducing the number of nations that could act assertively in international politics -- and reducing the others to a condition of permanent subordination.Going beyond the battlefield to consider the profound political and social contexts of armed conflict, Firepower ultimately reveals how the evolution of weapons technology, and the uses to which it has been put, have together transformed human history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHarold Schechter, Amazon Charts bestselling author of Hell’s Princess, unearths a nearly forgotten true crime of obsession and revenge, and one of the first—and worst—mass murders in American history. In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school—one of the most modern in the Midwest—Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it. Thirty-eight children and six adults were murdered that morning, culminating in the deadliest school massacre in US history. Maniac is Harold Schechter’s gripping, definitive, exhaustively researched chronicle of a town forced to comprehend unprecedented carnage and the triggering of a “human time bomb” whose act of apocalyptic violence would foreshadow the terrors of the current age.Trade Review“In this gripping account, Schechter (Hell’s Princess) charts the descent of farmer Andrew Kehoe into madness…thorough research matches the assured prose. True crime buffs will want to take a look.” —Publishers Weekly “The minute-by-minute account of the event and the firsthand reports create a strong sense of place and time and bring this chilling story to life…a vivid narrative that’s sure to please those interested in historical true crime tales.” —Library Journal “Exhaustively researched but written in an accessible style, Schechter balances true crime, an immigration story, and a look at our fascination with true crimes, to spellbinding effect.” —Amazon Book Review “A shocking but little-remembered tragedy unfolded at a primary school in Michigan one day in 1927—leaving 38 children and six adults dead. With careful research and captivating scenes, Schechter probes how echoes of the massacre reverberate even today.” —Newsweek “Schechter delves into Kehoe’s life, along with the circumstances leading up to the bloodbath he wrought, and discusses other major news events of the time period that eclipsed coverage of the bombing. In his usual way, Schechter engrosses the reader without being sensationalist, and fans of his previous work would do well to pick this up.” —Booklist “Maniac is a fascinating book by an author who shows real mastery of the true-crime genre. The story Schechter recounts is a difficult one to read, but the author’s intelligence and sensitivity make it one that’s well worth your time.” —NPR “Rather than simply telling the story of what happened in Bath, Schechter looks much more deeply into the situation, what similarities we would see in our world today (tabloid stories, ‘murderabilia’ collectors, and people from nearby towns coming just to look at the devastation) as well as what was going on in the world in May of 1927 that may have had a large effect on the news coverage the Bath disaster did (and did not) receive…Schechter also looks closely at modern-day school shootings and what these events do and do not have in common with this almost century old precedent. Additionally, he examines some of the crimes referred to as ‘the crime of the century’ in pop culture, and how these crimes ‘measure up’ to Kehoe’s disastrous work in Bath…Far from focusing exclusively on the crime itself and the sadist who committed it, Schechter also brings the reader heart-warming stories of heroes and survivors in a beautiful and honorable way.” —The Nerd Daily “Reading the story chronologically is as nerve-wracking as a page-turning thriller…Schechter doesn’t spend too much time attempting to psychoanalyze Kehoe; he’s more focused on our cultural response to such a monster in our midst.” —The American Conservative “Schechter forensically recreates the family history and gradual unravelling of mass murderer Andrew Kehoe…For true crime lovers, this author has done his research.” —A Lee Woodruff Book Marks selection “A concise, harrowing work of social history…Mr. Schechter does a worthy job with this dire saga, telling it in short, punchy chapters and placing it in a larger historical context.” —The Wall Street Journal “Schechter pulls details from every conceivable news account, using them to present the victims as dimensional human beings. Readers experience that terrible day as many townspeople did…Maniac is both a comprehensive historical account of an American tragedy and a fitting reminder about the conditions that can create human time bombs.” —Psychology Today

Read more less

Book SynopsisOver There in the Air tells the little known story of the contribution of Texas A&M University to early aviation in World War I. Over two thousand students served in the war in one capacity or another, and of those about 250 were involved in the newest martial development-military aviation. The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, as it was then known, was regarded as one of the top leading academic institutions in the country for contributions to the nation's effort in the Great War. Through painstaking research-using unit records, after-action reviews, alumni newsletters, and countless other university documents-John A. Adams Jr. paints a portrait of the Aggie aviator in the Great War. Texas A&M aviators flew in European air forces, hunted German U-boats, went on scouting missions, and served as attack pilots. Adams has identified, often for the first time, those Aggies who served and follows them through training, life on the front, and the return home. While much of the World War I story occurred "over there", just as much took place "over here." Adams explores the home front as well as the battlefront, capturing campus life in the midst of mobilization, recruitment, and a devastating influenza epidemic that claimed as many as fifty campus lives.Over There in the Air is a riveting book about an important contribution of a university to the World War I effort. It is sure to catch the attention of all Aggies and those interested in aviation history.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHailed as one of the most important works on the Hitler period, this is an “astonishing, compelling, and unnerving” portrait of life in Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1944—from a man who nearly shot Hitler himself (The New Yorker)   Friedrich Reck might seem an unlikely rebel against Nazism. Not just a conservative but a rock-ribbed reactionary, he played the part of a landed gentleman, deplored democracy, and rejected the modern world outright. To Reck, the Nazis were ruthless revolutionaries in Gothic drag, and helpless as he was to counter the spell they had cast on the German people, he felt compelled to record the corruptions of their rule.   The result is less a diary than a sequence of stark and astonishing snapshots of life in Germany between 1936 and 1944. We see the Nazis at the peak of power, and the murderous panic with which they respond to approaching defeat; their travesty of traditional folkways in the name of the Volk; and the author’s own missed opportunity to shoot Hitler. This riveting book is not only, as Hannah Arendt proclaimed it, “one of the most important documents of the Hitler period,” but a moving testament of a decent man struggling to do the right thing in a depraved world.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen people think of legendary Texas cattle ranches the images that first come to mind are iconic, open-range operations like King Ranch of South Texas. In Henry C. 'Hank' Smith and the Cross B Ranch, historian M. Scott Sosebee tells the story of one pioneer settler's small but significant ranch in West Texas. The Cross B Ranch of Blanco Canyon struggled but endured to become quite successful, even while surrounded by big ranching empires. Founder Hank Smith went on to become one of the region's most prominent, civic-minded citizens.Born in Bavaria, Smith left Germany in 1851 at the age of fourteen and traveled to Ohio to live with a sister. Less than two years later, he left Ohio to seek better opportunities in the American West. In the course of his westering life he worked as a teamster on the Santa Fe Trail, searched for gold in Arizona and New Mexico, served in both the Confederate and Union armies during the Civil War, operated a freighting business, owned a hotel, and eventually moved to Blanco Canyon and became a stock raiser. Although he did raise cattle, for most of his life as a stockman he raised twice as many sheep as he did cows, yet was one of the first in West Texas to upgrade his cattle stock with purebred bloodlines.In Henry C. 'Hank' Smith and the Cross B Ranch, M. Scott Sosebee enriches our understanding of western heritage and ranching in America through a compelling and lively biography set on the small stage of an unassuming but important ranch.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCompelling evidence that the events of Homer''s Iliad and Odyssey took place in the Baltic and not the Mediterranean• Reveals how a climate change forced the migration of a people and their myth to ancient Greece • Identifies the true geographic sites of Troy and Ithaca in the Baltic Sea and Calypso''s Isle in the North Atlantic OceanFor years scholars have debated the incongruities in Homer''s Iliad and Odyssey, given that his descriptions are at odds with the geography of the areas he purportedly describes. Inspired by Plutarch''s remark that Calypso''s Isle was only five days sailing from Britain, Felice Vinci convincingly argues that Homer''s epic tales originated not in the Mediterranean, but in the northern Baltic Sea. Using meticulous geographical analysis, Vinci shows that many Homeric places, such as Troy and Ithaca, can still be identified in the geographic landscape of the Baltic. He explains how the dense, foggy weather described by Ulysses befits northern not Mediterranean climes, and how battles lasting through the night would easily have been possible in the long days of the Baltic summer. Vinci''s meteorological analysis reveals how a decline of the "climatic optimum" caused the blond seafarers to migrate south to warmer climates, where they rebuilt their original world in the Mediterranean. Through many generations the memory of the heroic age and the feats performed by their ancestors in their lost homeland was preserved and handed down to the following ages, only later to be codified by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey.Felice Vinci offers a key to open many doors that allow us to consider the age-old question of the Indo-European diaspora and the origin of the Greek civilization from a new perspective.

Read more less

Book SynopsisUnderstanding the visitor experience provides essential insights into how museums can affect people’s lives. Personal drives, group identity, decision-making and meaning-making strategies, memory, and leisure preferences, all enter into the visitor experience, which extends far beyond the walls of the institution both in time and space. Drawing upon a career in studying museum visitors, renowned researcher John Falk attempts to create a predictive model of visitor experience, one that can help museum professionals better meet those visitors’ needs. He identifies five key types of visitors who attend museums and then defines the internal processes that drive them there over and over again. Through an understanding of how museums shape and reflect their personal and group identity, Falk is able to show not only how museums can increase their attendance and revenue, but also their meaningfulness to their constituents.Table of ContentsPart I - Theory, 1. Introduction: Museums and Their Visitors, 2. The Museum, 3. The Visitor, 4. The Visit, 5. Satisfaction, 6. Memories, 7. The Museum Visitor Experience Model, Part II - Practice, 8. Theory to Practice, 9. Attracting and Building Audiences, 10. Making Museums Work for Visitors, 11. Institutional Value and Accountability, Notes, References, Index, About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom 1983 to 1987, author Mark Dunn worked as a court clerk for a justice of the peace in Travis County, Texas, where, he says, “I learned more about human nature . . . than I could have learned in any other job I might have taken up as a bushy-tailed kid from Tennessee.” Based on interviews with 200 justices of the peace from all parts of Texas, Texas People’s Court promises to take readers on a tour of what it means to be a Texas justice of the peace: an experience that is by turns hilarious, sobering, heart-wrenching, and, from one end to the other, fascinating.Here in the Texas justice court, wrongs can be righted and lives changed in profound ways. A priceless family necklace might finally be restored to the rightful owner; an occupational driver’s license fortuitously granted. A death inquest may become an opportunity for family reflection and valediction, with the attending judge as sympathetic witness.In each of its chapters, Texas People’s Court takes up a different aspect, duty, or area of thought related to the profession of justice of the peace taken from conversations with JPs throughout the state of Texas—from those who serve in its most populous municipalities to rural county JPs—putting a human face on the responsibilities, attitudes, and perspectives that motivate their judgments. The result is a thoroughly entertaining, sympathetic view of what Dunn calls “the day-to-day observation of human conflict in microcosm.”

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe diminutive Union XII Corps found significant success on the field at Antietam. Its soldiers swept through the East Woods and the Miller Cornfield, permanently clearing both of Confederates, repelled multiple Southern assaults against the Dunker Church plateau, and eventually secured a foothold beyond the Dunker Church in the West Woods. This important piece of high ground had been the Union objective all morning, and its occupation threatened the center and rear of Gen. Robert E. Lee's embattled Army of Northern Virginia. Federal leadership largely ignored this signal achievement and the opportunity it presented. The XII Corps' achievement is especially notable given its string of disappointments and hardships in the months leading up to Antietam. Cedar Mountain to Antietam: A Civil War Campaign History of the Union XII Corps, July – September 1862 by M. Chris Bryan is the story of the formation of this often luckless command as the II Corps in Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia on June 26, 1862. Bryan explains in meticulous detail how the corps came within a whisker of inflicting a crushing defeating against Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson at Cedar Mountain on August 9, suffered through the hardships of Pope's campaign before and after the Battle of Second Manassas, and its resurgence after entering Maryland and joining the reorganized Army of the Potomac. The men of this small corps, who would later wear a five-pointed star as their insignia, went on to earn a solid reputation in the Army of the Potomac at Antietam that would only grow during the battles of 1863.Bryan's study, a hybrid unit history and leadership and character assessment, puts the XII Corps' actions in proper context by providing significant and substantive treatment to its Confederate opponents. His unique study, based on extensive archival research, newspapers, and other important resources, is a compelling story of a little-studied yet consequential corps and fills a gaping historiographical gap that has longed needed to be filled.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisExam board: OCRLevel: A-levelSubject: History First teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016Target success in OCR A-level History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision; key content coverage is combined with exam preparation activities and exam-style questions to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge.- Enables students to plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner- Consolidates knowledge with clear and focused content coverage, organised into easy-to-revise chunks- Encourages active revision by closely combining historical content with related activities- Helps students build, practise and enhance their exam skills as they progress through activities set at three different levels- Improves exam technique through exam-style questions with sample answers and commentary from expert authors and teachers- Boosts historical knowledge with a useful glossary and timeline

Read more less

Book SynopsisIf you have ever wondered ''Why is there so much violence in the Middle East?'', ''Who are the Palestinians?'', ''What are the occupied territories?'' or ''What does Israel want?'', then this is the book for you. With straightforward language, Phyllis Bennis, longtime analyst of the region, answers basic questions about Israel and Israelis, Palestine and Palestinians, the US and the Middle East, Zionism and anti-Semitism; about complex issues ranging from the Oslo peace process to the election of Hamas to the Goldstone Report and the Palestinians'' UN initiatives. Together her answers provide a comprehensive understanding of the longstanding relationship between Palestine and Israel. This new edition will cover an in-depth history of events, bringing readers right up to the catastrophe beginning on October 7th, 2023.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased in Perthshire, the Murray family played an important role in all Jacobite rebellions, whether as rebels or supporters of the government. During the Great Rising of 1715, the head of the family the Duke of Atholl remained loyal to the Hanoverian government but three of his sons were Jacobites. Two of these brothers then went on to play major roles in the 1719 Rising and in the more famous '45. What led to their decision to commit to the Jacobite cause? A look at the earlier years of the Murrays at the end of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries sheds light on the family dynamics and helps explain how and why the brothers made the decisions they did. Traditionally the Murrays were thought to have perhaps made a conscious and pragmatic decision to have a foot in both camps, but the evidence presented here shows the brothers possessed a strong rebellious streak. Despite the heavily enforced regime of duty from their father and the Presbyterian piety of their mother, they refused to conform to their parents' wishes and in varying degrees chose of their own volition, a different path to that expected of them. Set against the backdrop of social unrest and anxiety over against English influence in Scotland, these choices had a significant impact on the history of the family and because of who that family was, a significant impact on the country.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'. . . we need this book. Of course Africa needs it as well, because no other huge area of the planet is treated as such a singular region, and that has to change. But the rest of the planet needs It's a Continent because we miss out by not recognising the individual majesty, the complexity, the beauty, the culture and the stories of the dozens of African countries. We owe it to ourselves and our history to put that right.' - Simon ReeveWhy is Africa still perceived as a single country?How did African soldiers contribute to World War II?Who else led the charge against Apartheid in South Africa?How did an African man become one of the wealthiest people in history?There are (hi)stories you were never taught in school.IT'S A CONTINENT delves into these stories and reveals an Africa as you've never read it before. Breaking down this vast, beautiful, and complex continent and exploring each nations' unique history and culture, IT'S A CONTINENT highlights the key historical moments that have shaped each nation and contributed to its modern global position.Each chapter focuses on a different country and uncovers stories that mainstream education doesn't address at its peril.This book aims to highlight the consequences of colonialism and how this legacy reverberates today, as well as how many African countries continue to re-build in its wake.IT'S A CONTINENT is a bold and colourful corrective to the perception of Africa as a monolith. It reveals the fascinating, often overlooked, histories of its 54 nation states too often misrepresented, its inhabitants and its place in the world too often neglected.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFollow America's elite warriors through the military's most grueling training and learn how they survive real special operations.Of the 18 months required to become a Navy SEAL, one week will cause over half of the trainees to quit ("ring the bell"). Only the toughest make it through. In Hell Week and Beyond, Scott McEwen takes the readers to the sands of Coronado Beach in San Diego, where Navy SEALs are put through the most grueling training known to mankind. Grit, commitment, heart, and soul are needed to become a SEAL, because these are the elite forces who go into the toughest battles for America.Many of the most well-known SEAL warriors have been interviewed for this book, providing the stories of what got them through and the humor of those that made it. (Those that make it almost always have one thing in common: humor. Find out why!)Part Top Gun, part Bull Durham, this book delivers that goods for those in the know, as well as general readers who admire the elite forces for all they do.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisUncle Tom's Cabin may well have excited more controversy than any other work of fiction in American history. Welcomed by many abolitionists and met with indignation by supporters of slavery, it gave crucial impetus to the antislavery movement, and its characters and dramatic scenes were quickly absorbed into the nation's consciousness; at the same time, its employment of racial stereotypes and emphasis on Christian nonresistance in the face of violence left behind a troubling legacy that was debated by black Americans in the nineteenth century and that culminated in the popular tradition of 'Tom shows' that persisted well into the twentieth century. With a brief but robust introduction, judicious selection of the most essential and frequently taught portions of the novel, and examples of contemporary responses, this abridged edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery classic provides an overview of the novel's plot, themes, and rhetorical strategies, and is ideal for classroom use. This volume is one of a number of editions that have been drawn from the pages of the acclaimed Broadview Anthology of American Literature; like the others, it is designed to make a range of material from the anthology available in a format convenient for use in a wide variety of contexts.Trade ReviewThe expansion, diversification, and revitalization of the texts and terms of American literary history in recent years is made marvelously accessible in the … new Broadview Anthology of American Literature."—Hester Blum, Penn State University"The Broadview Anthology of American Literature is, quite simply, a breakthrough. … Meticulously researched and expertly assembled, this anthology should be the new gold standard for scholars and teachers alike."—Michael D’Alessandro, Duke University"So much thought has been put into every aspect of the Broadview Anthology of American Literature, from the selection of texts to their organization to their presentation on the page; it will be a gift to classrooms for years to come."— Lara Langer Cohen, Swarthmore College "The multiplicity of early American locations, languages, and genres is here on wondrous display."—Jordan Alexander Stein, Fordham University "Above all, this is a volume for the 21st century. … Its capaciousness and ample resource materials make for a text that is always evolving and meeting its readers in new ways."—Russ Castronovo, University of Wisconsin-Madison"a rich collection that reflects the diversity of American literatures…. [and] that never forgets its most important audience: students. There is a wealth of material here that will help them imagine and reimagine what American literature could be."— Michael C. Cohen, UCLATable of ContentsIntroductionUncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly: SelectionsIn Context American Slavery: Contemporary Accounts from Theodore Dwight Weld, Angelina Grimké Weld, and Sarah Grimké, American Slavery as It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses (1839) from The Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada (1856) Runaway Advertisements (1820–67) Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Public William Lloyd Garrison, The Liberator, 26 March 1852 from William J. Wilson [Ethiop], Uncle Tom's Cabin!, Frederick Douglass' Paper, 17 June 1852 from Charles Sumner, US Senate Speech on his Motion to repeal the fugitive Slave Bill (as reprinted in the Anti-Slavery Bugle, Lisbon, Ohio), 18 September 1852 from anonymous, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The New York Observer, 21 October 1852 from Louisa S. McCord, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Southern Quarterly Review, January 1853 from George Sand, George Sand and Uncle Tom, The National Era, 27 January 1853 from George Frederick Holmes, A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, Southern Literary Messenger, June 1853 from anonymous, The North American Review, October 1853 from Mary Chesnut, Diary, 1861–62, 1981 Advertisement, New England Farmer (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 December 1852 (An Edition for the Million) Advertisement, Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), 12 August 1852 The Anti-Tom Novel from Caroline Lee Hentz, The Planter's Northern Bride (1854) Martin Delany and Frederick Douglass Debate Harriet Beecher Stowe Visualizing Uncle Tom's Cabin

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn impressive account that explores the raid from the conflicting viewpoints of the raiders, both French-Canadian and Native American, and the Deerfield villagers - as well as its place in the century-long conflict between the two colonial empires. - Boston Globe ""An exceptionally well-researched, engaging, and cogent book. Captors and Captives is sure to become the standard account of the 1704 raid, likely to withstand the scrutiny of antiquarians and professional historians alike. The authors' meticulous research has uncovered new insights about a story that has been told and retold for three centuries. They have also expertly situated Deerfield within the historiographies of New England, New France, and Native America, suggesting new directions for each of these vibrant and complex subfields. If Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville accomplished the extraordinary by approaching Deerfield with so formidable and diverse an arsenal, Haefeli and Sweeney's book is a fitting commemorative for the event, for they have done the same."" - Reviews in American History ""An absorbing and important depiction of the diverse communities scattered across the Northeast at the turn of the century - particularly French and Indian - and the sometimes bitter, sometimes friendly relationships that connected them.... The cross-cultural, continental, transatlantic, and biographical aspects of Captors and Captives make it useful and fun for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses on colonial America."" - Journal of American History ""Broad in perspective, meticulous in its attention to detail, imaginative in its conception, Captors and Captives is a model of the historian's craft.... The story of the attack itself has been told countless times, but Haefeli and Sweeney have brought an uncommon sensitivity to the sources and have reconstructed the details of the event in ways that might once have been thought impossible."" - New England Quarterly ""Haefeli and Sweeney use individuals' experiences to illuminate the variety of motives - private and communal, religious and political, imperial and local - that prompted individuals into action or inaction. Especially valuable is the corrective contribution of this approach with respect to New France, exposing the heterogeneous collection of identities, allegiances, and interests that shaped French policy and French settlers' behaviors along the northern frontier.... What makes this study all the more impressive and effective as a social history is that the authors were able to translate this wealth of data into a gripping narrative."" - American Historical Review

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the 1970s, the economic and social foundations of Western Europe underwent an unprecedented transformation. Old industries like coal and steel disappeared, millions of people lost their jobs and formerly flourishing towns and cities went into decline. Traditional political agendas gave way to new social problems and concerns. What happened to industrial citizens – their workplaces, their careers and their homes? How did social rights and political participation of workers change when markets became global, management lean and financial capital dominant? How did companies change and how were personal skills and work tasks reinvented under the impact of new technologies? How did workers – men and women – live through these decades of uncertainty and upheaval? Lutz Raphael reconstructs the highly variegated story of deindustrialization in Western Europe with a particular focus on Britain, France and West Germany. Extending over three decades, this transformation was accompanied by significant rises in productivity and consumerism, but it also came at a heavy cost, ushering in many low-income jobs, growing inequality and a crisis of democratic representation. Its legacy is everywhere around us today – it is the transformation that has shaped our world.Trade Review"This is an outstanding study of a major topical theme: the changes that have taken place in the structure, organization and orientation of the working class during the process of deindustrialization that has been underway since the 1960s. No one has analysed this transformation with this degree of thoroughness before, and, as Raphael shows, we are still living with its consequences. This is certainly an important book, and it has no rivals at the level of serious scholarship."—Colin Crouch, University of Warwick "This is comparative social history of deindustrialization in Western Europe at its best. Lutz Raphael has written an entirely convincing book that analyses transformations in the world of work, changes in the understanding of social classes and the impact of labour conflicts. Anyone wanting to know about changing social structures, life-course narratives of workers, unemployment, factory life, working-class neighbourhoods and de-skilling as well as re-skilling should read this book." "—Stefan Berger, Ruhr-Universität BochumTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionSECTION I. A BIRD'S EYE VIEWThree National Labour Regimes in Transition1. Industrial labour in Western Europe after the economic boom from the perspective of the political economy2. Farewell to class struggle and fixed social structures3. Political history from below: labour conflict and new social movements4. Industrial citizens and wage earners: labour relations, social benefits and wages5. Skilled work, production knowledge and educational capital: conflicts of interpretation and readjustments.SECTION II. CLOSE-UPSFields of experience and horizons of expectation in times of upheaval6. Life courses, work and unemployment in times of upheaval7. Transformations in company regimes8. Industrial districts, social spaces, ‘problem neighbourhoods’ and owner-occupier areas: social spaces and deindustrializationConclusion: The history of deindustrialization as a history of contemporary problems.List of IllustrationsSources and literatureNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisHawaii, 7th December 1941, shortly before 8 in the morning: Japanese torpedo bombers launch a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The devastating attack claims the lives of over 2,400 American soldiers, sinks or damages 18 ships and destroys nearly 350 aircraft. The US Congress declares war on Japan the following day. In this vivid and lively book, Takuma Melber breathes new life into the dramatic events that unfolded before, during and after Pearl Harbor by putting the perspective of the Japanese attackers at the centre of his account. This is the dimension commonly missing in most other histories of Pearl Harbor, and it gives Melber the opportunity to provide a fuller, more definitive and authoritative account of the battle, its background and its consequences. Melber sheds new light on the long negotiations that went on between the Japanese and Americans in 1941, and the confusion and argument among the Japanese political and military elite. He shows how US intelligence and military leaders in Washington failed to interpret correctly the information they had and to draw the necessary conclusions about the Japanese war intentions in advance of the attack. His account of the battle itself is informed by the latest research and benefits from including the planning and post-raid assessment by the Japanese commanders. His account also covers the second raid in March 1942 by two long-range seaplanes which was intended to destroy the shipyards so that ships damaged in the initial attack could not be repaired. This balanced and thoroughly researched book deepens our understanding of the battle that precipitated America’s entry into the war and it will appeal to anyone interested in World War II and military history.Trade Review"dramatic and highly readable"The Daily Telegraph "Melber offers a fresh, dramatic account of events in 1941, when Japan headed into a war with the United States that most Japanese policymakers knew their country was not likely to win.... Readers know how the story ends, but Melber's just-the-facts narrative re-creates the tension of the events as they were lived."Foreign Affairs "Melber clearly is on top of his subject matter, having mastered the story of Pearl Habor from the perspectives of both Japan and the United States. In so doing he offers fascinating new insights into what led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and thus to America's entry into the Second World War. He displays a thorough knowledge of the Japanese and American literature, and he writes in a manner that is both accessible and authoritative. This is an excellent book and it will find a ready readership both among university students and among the general public."Richard Bessel, University of York "There is no shortage of historical literature on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so it is a brave historian who seeks to find a new way to present a familiar story. The great merit of Takuma Melber's new book on the battle is his access to Japanese sources and literature. This is the dimension commonly missing in most accounts, and it gives Melber the opportunity to provide a fuller, more definitive and authoritative account of the battle, its background, and its consequences. Melber writes with great economy on a big subject, and he writes with flair and precision: this book is a literary achievement as well as a work of exceptional scholarship."Richard Overy, University of Exeter "Here is a new look at the dramatic way Japan drew the United States into World War II. The drawing of additional details from a variety of Japanese sources as well as the published and archival material in English and German offers the reader an excellent and balanced introduction to a very important event."Gerhard L. Weinberg, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina"A fascinating look at the inner workings of Japanese political, military, and diplomatic circles."War on the Rocks "[A] penetrating study of one of the key events of the 20th century from the Japanese rather than the usual American perspective. Melber's nuanced picture of Japanese wartime decision-making exposes the deep rifts in the country's military and civilian leadership. His clinical analysis of the diplomatic to-and-fro between Tokyo and Washington in the months before the attack lays bare the inevitable slide towards war."The Australian "In this vivid book, Takuma Melber breathes new life into the dramatic events that unfolded before, during, and after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. By putting the Japanese attackers' perspective at the centre of his account, he provides a more comprehensive and authoritative history of the battle, its background, and its consequences."Military History"Pearl Harbor is a fine introduction to its subject, enhanced by useful additions from original Japanese sources."Michigan War Studies Review"His book eloquently synthesizes both Japanese and American secondary and primary sources on the attack, and the narrative is told primarily from the perspective of the Japanese. The result is an evenly balanced account that provides a “big picture” view of events."The Strategy Bridge"Melber’s ‘Pearl Harbor’ is an admirably concise and highly illuminating account. It mainly tells how things unfolded from the Japanese perspective. Melber's excellent book illustrates that so-called decisive attacks aiming to utterly destroy an enemy with a major attack can sometimes create terrible consequences for the perpetrators.”Iain Ballantyne, Warships International Fleet Review''Melber’s authoritative and persuasive book brings another vital and welcome dimension into play by revealing the Japanese side of the narrative''Shepherd "Melber provides a concise and judicious account of Pearl Harbor that makes good use of his familiarity with Japanese sources to provide a balanced narrative of the diplomatic run-up to the attack and the battle itself. Because Melber's book is comprehensive, clearly written,... it has the potential to become a gateway book for general readers interested in Pearl Harbor and a staple textbook in diplomatic and military history courses. ... a fascinating account of the planning and execution of the Pearl Harbor attack."Journal of American Culture“This is not purely a military history but one that interweaves diplomatic history into a vivid account of the battle. … Pearl Harbor serves as the most up-to-date, well-researched, and accessible account of the event for the broadest possible readership.”Japan ReviewTable of ContentsPrologue I. The background 1. The road to Pearl Harbor 2. The crisis intensifies 3. Japan’s proposals for resolving the conflict 4. The Hull Note II. The Japanese war plan 1. Admiral Yamamoto and Operation Hawaii 2. The plan of attack 3. The Kid Butai sets sail 4. Japanese spies in Hawaii 5. The first encounter III. The attack 1. The first wave 2. ‘Tora Tora Tora’ 3. Battleship Row in crossfire 4. The second attack wave 5. Egusa’s dive bombers IV. Consequences 1. The aftermath 2. The USA enters the war 3. The first prisoner-of-war 4. The Japanese-born victims of Pearl Harbor 5. Could Pearl Harbor have been prevented? 6. Conspiracy theories 7. Operation K Epilogue Select Bibliography Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn October 1785, American statesman John Jay acknowledged that the more his countrymen ""are treated ill abroad, the more we shall unite and consolidate at home."" Behind this simple statement lies a complicated history. From the British impressment of patriots during the Revolution to the capture of American sailors by Algerian corsairs and Barbary pirates at the dawn of the nineteenth century, stories of Americans imprisoned abroad helped jumpstart democratic debate as citizens acted on their newly unified identity to demand that their government strengthen efforts to free their fellow Americans. Deliberations about the country's vulnerabilities in the Atlantic world reveal America's commitment to protecting the legacy of the Revolution as well as growing political divisions.Drawing on newspaper accounts, prisoner narratives, and government records, David J. Dzurec III explores how stories of American captivity in North America, Europe, and Africa played a critical role in the development of American political culture, adding a new layer to our understanding of foreign relations and domestic politics in the early American republic.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this autobiographical reflection, the distinguished anthropologist Philippe Descola looks back on his intellectual career and examines both the central themes of his work and the key questions that have shaped anthropological debates over the past forty years. A student of Lévi-Strauss, Descola conducted ethnographic research among the Achuar of the upper Amazon in the late 1970s, focusing on how native societies relate to their environment. In this book he sheds fresh light on the evolution of his thinking from structuralism to an anthropology beyond the human, on the critique of the modern separation between nature and society, and above all on the genesis and scope of his major work Beyond Nature and Culture. This synthesis of the ways in which humans view their relationships with non-humans proposes four schemas for the ‘composition of worlds’ (animism, naturalism, totemism, analogism) that characterize our ways of inhabiting the earth. Presented in the form of an extended conversation with Pierre Charbonnier, this book is both a lucid introduction to the work of one of the most original anthropologists writing today and an impassioned plea for ontologies that are more accommodating of the diversity of beings.Trade Review“Charbonnier’s questions have engendered exquisite insights into the essence of Descola’s anthropology. A very welcome translation reveals the prescience with which, long ago, this eminent thinker scaled up his concerns to address some of today’s most urgent problems.”Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge“What a privilege, to accompany this brilliant anthropologist as he develops and reflects on his meta-ontology against the background of the ethnographic vocation, the Amazonian forest, structuralism, and the distinctiveness of anthropology in France! An instant classic, this exceptionally lucid work will be indispensable for teaching.”Michael Lambek, University of TorontoTable of ContentsForeword to the English editionI. A taste for inquiry Philosophical journeys Discovering the mind, discovering the world Among the tribe of anthropologists Entering the pantheon II. An Amazonian sojourn and the challenges of ethnography The world of the forest Living and working among the Achuar The trial of return III. The diversity of natures The four corners of the world Methodological questions Conceptual reform Forms of figuration IV. The contemporary world in the light of anthropology We Moderns From anthropology to ecology Political anthropology The museum BibliographyNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisMaria Baldwin (1856--1922) held a special place in the racially divided society of her time, as a highly respected educator at a largely white New England school and an activist who carried on the radical spirit of the Boston area's internationally renowned abolitionists from a generation earlier.African American sociologist Adelaide Cromwell called Baldwin "the lone symbol of Negro progress in education in the greater Boston area" during her lifetime. Baldwin used her respectable position to fight alongside more radical activists like William Monroe Trotter for full citizenship for fellow members of the black community. And, in her professional and personal life, she negotiated and challenged dominant white ideas about black womanhood. In Maria Baldwin's Worlds, Kathleen Weiler reveals both Baldwin's victories and what fellow activist W. E. B. Du Bois called her "quiet courage" in everyday life, in the context of the wider black freedom struggle in New England.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the early hours of 24 February 2022, Russian forces attacked Ukraine. The brutality of the Russian assault has horrified the world. But Russians themselves appear to be watching an entirely different war – one in which they are the courageous underdogs and kind-hearted heroes successfully battling a malign Ukrainian foe. Russia analyst Jade McGlynn takes us on a journey into this parallel military and political universe to reveal the sometimes monstrous, sometimes misconstrued attitudes behind Russian majority backing for the invasion. Drawing on media analysis and interviews with ordinary citizens, officials and foreign-policy elites in Russia and Ukraine, McGlynn explores the grievances, lies and half-truths that pervade the Russian worldview. She also exposes the complicity of many Russians, who have invested too deeply in the Kremlin’s alternative narratives to regard the war as Putin’s foolhardy mission. In their eyes, this is Russia’s war – against Ukraine, against the West, against evil – and there can be no turning back.Trade ReviewA New Statesman Book of the Year 2023 "This is the most comprehensive analysis of popular support for Russia’s war to date. Jade McGlynn emphasizes that broad swathes of Russian society back the invasion and unpacks the varied reasons for this support. An important read for anyone interested in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."Timothy M. Frye, author of Weak Strongman: The Limits of Power in Putin’s Russia"Timely, original and highly readable, McGlynn’s book is essential for anyone wishing to understand the past, present and future difficulties we face in dealing with Russia."Edward Lucas, former Economist Moscow correspondent and author of The New Cold War"McGlynn offers a tantalising glimpse into the Russian public’s perception of the war in Ukraine. Do the Russians care? McGlynn provides the answer in a gripping narrative that brings out the nationalist fervour, the cautious scepticism and the mind-boggling indifference of those on whom Vladimir Putin counts for support."Sergey Radchenko, Johns Hopkins University"An unnerving exposé of Russian support for the war against Ukraine."James Ryan, Cardiff University"An invigorating take on Russia's war in Ukraine. McGlynn’s refreshing analysis looks beyond the battlefield to understand how Russians see the conflict."Rasmus Nilsson, University College London"compelling"The Moscow Times"Superb. A must-read for anyone looking for an understanding of Russian attitudes."Richard Shirreff, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Strategia Worldwide and former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe“Anyone who wants to understand why so many Russians support the war in Ukraine should start here”Simon Baugh, Chief Executive of UK Government Communications “The most extensive examination so far of Russian attitudes to the invasion and the nefarious methods that the Kremlin uses to try to manipulate minds … Russia’s War is a thoughtful guide to this deadly cocktail of confusion and hatred. Just don’t expect any easy answers.”The Times“Russian support for the war identified by McGlynn represents a major obstacle to the building of bridges, so her argument that we need to understand it is hard to deny.”Financial Times“Urgently relevant, highly readable.”Owen Matthews, Times Literary Supplement“Powerful and disturbing”The Washington Post“A journey into the heart of darkness, even madness, but with a cool-headed and astute guide we quickly learn to trust.”Robin Ashenden, The Spectator“Anybody wishing to better understand why Russians continue to support this murderous conflict will learn much from this pithy and insightful study”Robert Dale, CEU Review of BooksTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Prologue: Credence and Incredulity Chapter 1: The Bad Tsar Chapter 2: Putin’s Polls Chapter 3: How do you say ‘war’ in the Russian? Chapter 4: Washing brains Chapter 5: We are at war with the West Chapter 6: The Ukrainophobes Chapter 7: Restoration, redemption, revenge Chapter 8: ‘We will go to heaven, they will just croak’ Conclusion: How Russia Lost the War Notes

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy the end of the twentieth century, the idea of self-esteem had become enormously influential. A staggering amount of psychological research and self-help literature was being published and, before long, devoured by readers. Self-esteem initiatives permeated American schools. Self-esteem becametheway of understanding ourselves, our personalities, our interactions with others. Nowadays, however, few people think much about the concept of self-esteembut perhaps we should. Self-Esteem: An American Historyis the first historical study to explore the emotional politics of self-esteem in modern America. Written with verve and insight, Ian Miller's expert analysis looks at the critiques of self-help that accuse it of propping up conservative agendas by encouraging us to look solely inside ourselves to resolve life's problems. At the same time, he reveals how African American, LGBTQ+, and feminist activists have endeavored to build positive collective identities based

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor over seven decades, the USN built or purchased a number of landing guns of varying calibers. They were shipboard field guns intended to provide heavier firepower for armed parties of bluejackets or marines landed on foreign shores to quell rebellion. Such guns saw action in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Gun features and histories are covered

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the moment it began in 1936, the Spanish Civil War became the political question of the age. Hitler and Mussolini quickly sent aircraft, troops and supplies to the right-wing generals bent on overthrowing Spain's elected government. Millions of people around the world felt passionately that rapidly advancing fascism must be halted in Spain; if not there, where? More than 35,000 volunteers from dozens of other countries went to help defend the Spanish Republic.Adam Hochschild, the acclaimed author of King Leopold's Ghost, evokes this tumultuous period mainly through the lives of Americans involved in the war. A few are famous, such as Ernest Hemingway, but others are less familiar. They include a nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman, a fiery leftist who came to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a young man who ran away from his Pennsylvania college and became the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman who covertly violated US law and sold Generalissimo Francisco Franco most of the fuel for his army. Two New York Times reporters, fierce rivals, covered the war from opposite sides, with opposite sympathies. There are Britons in Hochschild's cast of characters as well: one, a London sculptor, fought with the American battalion; another, who had just gone down from Cambridge, joined Franco's army and found himself fighting against the Americans; and a third is someone whose experience of combat in Spain had a profound effect on his life, George Orwell.Trade ReviewHochschild’s contribution lies in the storytelling, his sure command of military history, and his beautiful sense of private hurt, which together yield original insight. An astute observer of contrasts, he navigates the hairpin turns between intimacy and barbarism, euphoria and despair, naivety and cynicism. The book effortlessly hopscotches from global history to individual – and emotional – experience. -- Rich Benjamin * Guardian *While Hochschild focuses on volunteers such as Berg, he doesn't ignore the war's local dynamic and global dimensions. What makes the book so effective, however, is his decision to explore these complexities through a set of interwoven biographies . . . Hochschild tells nuanced tales of political awakenings and disillusionment, but also steadfast ethical commitment. He never descends into easy moralising. * BBC History Magazine *Beautifully written with a hawk-eye for the telling anecdote, Spain in Our Hearts constitutes an endlessly fascinating and utterly unputdownable survey of the war to defend democracy in Spain that was not only the first act of the Second World War but also, for many across the world, the last great cause. -- Paul Preston, author of The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and RevengeSpain in Our Hearts is narrative non-fiction at its very best. Hochschild's achievement is to make this trial-by-combat story come alive, as if it were happening now. It is impossible for a reader not to identify and feel compassion for those sons and daughters of America who risked and often gave their lives for a cause that could not ultimately prevail against the darker forces of Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin - and Texaco. A seamlessly-woven, unputdownable tapestry of war in Europe; intensely, unforgettably moving. -- Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of CommandAdam Hochschild weaves a brilliant tapestry of colorful characters into a story that includes the young Ernest Hemmingway, the charismatic Robert Merriman, the scotch-drinking Milly Bennett, the glamorous reporter Virginia Cowles, and dozens of other Americans whose lives were dramatically altered by the Spanish Civil War. Hochschild's poignant narrative evokes E.L. Doctorow's great historical novel Ragtime-but Spain in Our Hearts is no novel but a tragic true story about a critical tipping point in the 20th century's slide into total warfare. Passionate, evocative, and gracefully written -- Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good SpyGeorge Orwell once explained that going to Spain, in 1936, 'seemed the only conceivable thing to do.' As soon as he got there, the right thing to do got a lot less clear. And how to write about it was immediately difficult, too. The twenty-eight hundred Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War felt the same way, as Adam Hochschild recounts in this rich and fascinating book. Few writers grapple so powerfully with the painful moral and ethical choices of past actors as does Hochschild, who brings to Spain in Our Hearts his exceptional talents - and his moral seriousness - as a reporter, as a historian, and as a writer. -- Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder WomanIn this beautifully written portrait of Americans caught up in the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild brings to brilliant life the heroism and horror of that fratricidal conflict. His account of the David-and-Goliath fight between the ragtag army of idealistic, pro-democracy volunteers and the mechanized, murderous forces of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini is one of the most powerful narratives I have ever read. -- Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London[An] excellent portrait of the war and of the men and women drawn to Spain ... It is Hochschild's vivid account of what these people witnessed that gives his book its edge. Many other writers have described the Americans who went to Spain, but few have brought to their accounts such an enjoyable and balanced mixture of history and personal narrative ... Hochschild is good at conveying the barbarity on both sides without letting it swamp the story ... fascinating. -- Caroline Moorehead * Literary Review *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Maps Section - ii: Author's Note Introduction - iii: Prologue: Far from Home Chapter - 1: Chasing Moneychangers from the Temple Chapter - 2: Promised Land, Black Wings Chapter - 3: "Those Who Do Not Think as We Do" Chapter - 4: A New Heaven and Earth Chapter - 5: "I Will Destroy Madrid" Chapter - 6: "Don't Try to Catch Me" Chapter - 7: Rifles from the 1860s Chapter - 8: Over the Mountains Chapter - 9: Civil War at the Times Chapter - 10: The Man Who Loved Dictators Chapter - 11: Devil's Bargain Chapter - 12: "I Don't Think I Would Write about That If I Were You" Chapter - 13: "As Good a Method of Getting Married as Any Other" Chapter - 14: Texaco Goes to War Chapter - 15: "In My Book You'll Be an American" Chapter - 16: "A Letter to My Novia" Chapter - 17: "Only a Few Grains of Sand Left in the Hourglass" Chapter - 18: At the River's Edge Chapter - 19: A Change of Heart? Chapter - 20: Gambling for Time Chapter - 21: The Taste of Tears Chapter - 22: Kaddish Acknowledgements - iv: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Section - v: Bibliography Section - vi: Photo Credits Index - vii: Index Acknowledgements - viii: Permissions Acknowledgements

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less