Search results for ""FORGE""

Landlocked and with an economy reliant on subsistence agriculture, Niger often comes into the public eye only as example of deprivation and insecurity. Urban centers have become concentrated areas of unemployment filled with young men bored and idle, trying, against all odds, to find meaning where little is given. At the heart of Adeline Masquelier’s groundbreaking book is the fada—conversation groups where men gather to talk, play cards, listen to music, and drink tea. As a place where young men forge new forms of sociability and belonging outside the arena of work, the fada is an integral part of Niger’s urban landscape. By considering the fada as a site of experimentation, Masquelier offers a nuanced depiction of how young men in urban Niger engage in the quest for recognition and reinvent their own masculinity in the absence of conventional avenues to self-realization. In an era when fledgling and advanced economies alike are struggling to support meaningful forms of employment, this book offers a timely glimpse into how to create spaces of stability, respect, and creativity despite precarious conditions.

Read more less

J.R.R. Tolkien's writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one volume.Guided by the Dark Lord Sauron, the Elves of Eregion forge the Rings of Power. Yet in secret he has begun building the Barad-dûr in Mordor, and here, in the fires of Mount Doom, he makes the One Ring. Seeking to rule Middle-earth, Sauron begins to wage terrible war upon them.On the island-kingdom of Númenor, the Men of the West become mighty, building great ships to increase their influence throughout Middle-earth. But as their power grows, the seed of their downfall is sown. Only by uniting in alliance with the Elves can they hope to overcome Sauron.Adhering to The Tale of Years' timeline in The Lord of the Rings, Brian Sibley assembles a new chronicle of Middle-earth, a tragic tale of pride, envy and downfall told substantially in the words of J.R.R. Tolkien from the various published texts originally edited by Christopher Tolkien, and illustrated with pencil drawings by Alan Lee.

Read more less

From the USA Today Bestseller Can a secret sister help her find her way?Worthing, 1931 Raised in the grandeur of Muntham Court, young Millicent has always felt like the black sheep of her family. Between a vindictive mother and a conceited older sister, her only ally is her doting father, Charles.Brought up in the traveller community and always on the move, Lena's life has never been settled, but it has always been happy thanks to the support of her loving mother.When it is revealed that Lena is Charles's illegitimate daughter, Milly finally has a chance at true sisterhood. Thrust into a world of fairgrounds and new friends, her excitement is short-lived when she realises her mother must never know.Six year later, when both girls lose their father suddenly, they need each other more than ever as they forge their own path in the world. But Milly is harbouring a secret from Lena that risks losing her foreverCan they help each other face their futures, or will old lies tear them apart? A

Read more less

This is a big story. The Coppolas are one of the great American filmmaking dynasties, a classic example of an immigrant family who have thrived in America — the parallels with the Corleones of The Godfather are there for all to see, albeit without the organised crime. Centred on two extraordinary filmmaking generations: father and daughter Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola, each in different ways has defined their times. And of course, their stories are intimately entwined. But the story will encompass so much more than the careers of two directors. There will be subplots extending out across the Coppola clan to include Nicolas Cage, Talia Shire, Roman Coppola, Jack Schwartzman and lesser-known scions like Marc and Christopher Coppola. It is also the case that the respective stories of Francis and Sofia offer a fascinating insight into the changing face of Hollywood and American culture from the seventies until now. It is also a book about America, a land of opportunity and the template on which the Coppolas can forge their art.

Read more less

Winter, 1939. Edna and Lucy, along with new-born babies Jack and Lily, return to London during the war to a world gone mad. Forced to live underground, sleeping on the dark and dingy platforms of the Underground, they emerge each day to be confronted by bombed-out houses, already picked over by looters, spivs, black market traders and swindlers. When the war ends, Lucy, a bright and ambitious woman, seizes the opportunities that their changed society now offers. Meanwhile, Edna remains rooted in the old beliefs of kinship and community. Struggling to overcome the trauma of five years of conflict and unable to come to terms with her separation from her husband, Edna worries that life will never be the same again. Robbed of their childhood by the war, Jack, Lily and her younger brother George attempt to forge their own definitions of normality. When as a teenager Lily discovers a scrap of paper in the lining of a classy cashmere coat gifted to her from the American Red Cross, she jumps a

Read more less

In this ground-breaking synthesis of evolutionary and cultural theory, Wendy Wheeler draws on the new field of complex adaptive systems and biosemiotics in order to argue that - far from being opposed to nature - culture is the way that nature has evolved in human beings. Her argument is that these evolutionary processes reveal the fundamental sociality of human creatures, and she thus rejects the selfish individualism that is implied both in the biological reductionism of much recent evolutionary psychology, and in the philosophies of neoliberalism. She shows, instead, that the complex structures of biosemiotic evolution have always involved a creativity which is born from the difficult but productive phenomenological encounter between the Self and its Others; and she argues that this creativity, in both the sciences and the humanities, is fundamental to human progress. In this major contribution to both cultural studies and ecocriticism, Wheeler shows how complexity and biosemiotics forge the link between nature and culture, and provide a new and better understanding of how 'the whole human creature' operates as both social and biological being.

Read more less

'Wonderfully imaginative' Bernard Cornwell, author of The Last Kingdom. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell. Meet James Keane of the 27th Foot: an ill-disciplined card sharp and ladies' man - and one of the finest soldiers of Wellington's army. Keane's task, assigned directly by Wellington, is the creation of an intelligence unit operating behind the French lines. He and his company are trusted with the secrets of the generals - and viewed with hostile suspicion by regular troops. In a bid to recruit men with uncommon skills, Keane springs soldiers from military jails and liberates them from their regiments. It's up to him to form this band of blackguards into an elite unit. Deep in enemy territory, they must negotiate with dangerous guerilla groups and forge new routes for their army if they are to succeed - and survive. Based on the true activities of the first British military intelligence unit, Keane's Company presents an unusual and fascinating picture of the Peninsular War: a nineteenth-century Dirty Dozen and a worthy companion to Sharpe.

Read more less

In Tropical Riffs Jason Borge traces how jazz helped forge modern identities and national imaginaries in Latin America during the mid-twentieth century. Across Latin America jazz functioned as a conduit through which debates about race, sexuality, nation, technology, and modernity raged in newspapers, magazines, literature, and film. For Latin American audiences, critics, and intellectuals—who often understood jazz to stem from social conditions similar to their own—the profound penetration into the fabric of everyday life of musicians like Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker represented the promises of modernity while simultaneously posing a threat to local and national identities. Brazilian antijazz rhetoric branded jazz as a problematic challenge to samba and emblematic of Americanization. In Argentina jazz catalyzed discussions about musical authenticity, race, and national culture, especially in relation to tango. And in Cuba, the widespread popularity of Chano Pozo and Dámaso Pérez Prado popularity challenged the United States' monopoly on jazz. Outlining these hemispheric flows of ideas, bodies, and music, Borge elucidates how "America's art form" was, and remains, a transnational project and a collective idea.

Read more less

In their attempts to have a child, a husband and wife must contend with personal desires, crossed boundaries, and broken trust as they reimagine what it truly means to be a family. Nikki and Kyle Sebastian have a loving and healthy marriage. It’s only missing one thing they want—children. When the couple is diagnosed with “unexplained infertility” and endures several failed rounds of IVF, Kyle, for both their sakes, is unwilling to bury them deeper in emotional and financial debt. Desperate to have a baby, Nikki betrays Kyle’s trust in an attempt to try IVF one more time. The choice fractures their once-stable union. Now burdened with suspicion, resentment, and further grief, their little family is falling apart. Picking up the pieces of their broken home means reassessing their dreams for the future—dreams that Nikki’s not ready to give up. If she can’t find a way to forge a new path forward with Kyle, she may find herself alone at the end of the family tree she longs to help grow.

Read more less

With an emphasis on peer–produced content and collaboration, Wikipedia exemplifies a departure from traditional management and organizational models. This iconic "project" has been variously characterized as a hive mind and an information revolution, attracting millions of new users even as it has been denigrated as anarchic and plagued by misinformation. Have Wikipedia's structure and inner workings promoted its astonishing growth and enduring public relevance? In Common Knowledge?, Dariusz Jemielniak draws on his academic expertise and years of active participation within the Wikipedia community to take readers inside the site, illuminating how it functions and deconstructing its distinctive organization. Against a backdrop of misconceptions about its governance, authenticity, and accessibility, Jemielniak delivers the first ethnography of Wikipedia, revealing that it is not entirely at the mercy of the public: instead, it balances open access and power with a unique bureaucracy that takes a page from traditional organizational forms. Along the way, Jemielniak incorporates fascinating cases that highlight the tug of war among the participants as they forge ahead in this pioneering environment.

Read more less

When Leah Miller's entire Amish family was murdered ten years ago, the person believed responsible took his own life. Since then, Leah left the Amish and joined the police force. Now, after another Amish woman is found murdered with the same MO, it becomes clear that the wrong man may have been blamed for her family's deaths. As Leah and the new police chief, Dalton Cooper, work long hours struggling to fit the pieces together in order to catch the killer, they can't help but grow closer. When secrets from both of their pasts begin to surface, an unexpected connection between them is revealed. But this is only the beginning. Could it be that the former police chief framed an innocent man to keep the biggest secret of all buried? And what will it mean for Leah--and Dalton--when the full truth comes to light? USA Today bestselling author Mary Alford keeps you guessing as two determined souls plumb the dark depths of the past in order to forge a brighter future--together.

Read more less

Northern Ireland has made headlines around the world for three decades. The province has become synonymous with conflict, terrorism and tortuous efforts to forge peace. But what is life there really like? In this enchanting and highly original book Martin Fletcher presents a portrait of Northern Ireland utterly at odds with its dire international image. He paints a compelling picture of a place caught in a time warp since the 1960s, of a land of mountains, lakes and rivers where customs, traditions and old-world charm survive, of an incredibly resourceful province that has given the world not just bombs and bullets but the Titanic, the tyre and the tractor, a dozen American presidents, two prime ministers of New Zealand and a Hindu god. He meets an intelligent, fun-loving, God-fearing people who may do terrible things to each other but who could not be more welcoming to outsiders. He describes a land of awful beauty, a battleground of good and evil, a province populated by saints and sinners that has yet to be rendered bland by the forces of modernity.

Read more less

Discover TikTok's new favourite book.'I loved it and could have read a thousand more pages of it' Emma Cline, author of The Girls Selin, a tall, highly strung Turkish-American from New Jersey turns up at Harvard with no idea what to expect. What she doesn't expect is: - How much time she will spend thinking about language and its limitations - An opinionated cosmopolitan Serb named Svetlana, who will become her confidante - A mathematician from Hungary called Ivan, whom she will obsess over when she is supposed to be studying - Feeling dangerously overwhelmed by the challenges and possibilities of adulthood But most of all, Selin does not expect to embark on a study of precisely how baffling love can be when you are trying to forge a self... _______________- PRAISE FOR THE IDIOT: 'A moving, continent-hopping coming-of-age story' Observer 'Elif Batuman surely has one of the best senses of humour...refreshing and unique' Sheila Heti 'Full of zingy one-liners' Financial Times 'Hilarious, brilliant observations about writing, life and crushes' Curtis Sittenfeld 'Delightful and slyly funny' Red

Read more less

A powerful novel from master storyteller Jackie French The soldiers she saved called her the Angel of Waterloo.The husband she loved and lost called her Hen.The patients she treated in secret called her Auntie Love.She was Henrietta Bartlett, a surgeon's daughter, a survivor of the Napoleonic Wars. But now the battlefield is just a blood-soaked memory, and Hen dreams of peace, a home, and a society that allows women to practise medicine.On the other side of the world, the newly founded colony of New South Wales seems a paradise. But Europe's wars cast long shadows ...From bestselling author Jackie French comes the story of one woman's journey from the hell of Waterloo to colonial Australia, where she can forge her own dreams in a land of many nations.PRAISE FOR JACKIE FRENCH'a master storyteller ... [she] gives women a rich, strong, and brutally honest voice'- Better Reading'Heartwarming, heartbreaking and hard to put down' - Australian Women's Weekly on If Blood Should Stain the Wattle

Read more less

After Buffy loses her powers, it’s up to a new Slayer to take up the mantle; are they ready?In the first arc of WILLOWVERSE, trying to help Buffy heal from her trauma proves to be more than Giles and Willow bargained for! She’s left without her powers or identity, and it’s up to an unprepared and inexperienced new Slayer to take up the mantle—Willow. But thankfully Willow isn’t alone, as the spell also leads to another newly-activated Slayer, serving as a guide for this speed-run of training. But even with the threat of 4 terrifying and sometimes zany monsters, the darkest threat may be Willow herself, as she struggles to cope. Can Willow’s allies save her from herself? Writer Sarah Gailey (Eat the Rich) along with artists Michael Shelfer (Domino: Hotshots), Sonia Liao (A Spark Within the Forge), Puste (Rick and Morty Presents Morty’s Run), and Claudia Balboni (Fairlady) bring the first arc of a new Vampire Slayer! Collects The Vampire Slayer #1-4.

Read more less

Changing the world may sound like an impossible task. It's the kind of thing only political leaders, business innovators, and celebrities can do, right? But what if that's not true? Just look to these change-making girls who used their voices, their strengths, and their courage to forge new paths to a better future-all before their 20th birthdays. Teen Trailblazers tells the stories of 30 awe-inspiring young women, from historical groundbreakers like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, and Anne Frank; to history's quiet heroines, like Sybil Ludington, who warned troops that the British were coming; and Claudette Colvin, who inspired Rosa Parks; to today's powerful voices of social justice like Jazz Jennings and Emma González. Discover the remarkable change, leadership, and innovation made by incredible girls who overcame huge obstacles to accomplish great things. These pioneers are proof that every girl has the power to speak up, to speak out, to innovate, to inspire, to ask questions, and to challenge injustice. Each of these young women was "just a girl" until the day she wasn't anymore-until she became a trailblazer.

Read more less

In this new paranormal fantasy series, a powerful woman who can see the dead must choose whether to forge a new path for herself and her family…. “The problem with ghosts is that they don’t quite realize that they’re dead.” Voada Paorach can see the dead. It is a family trait, but one that has had to remain hidden since the Mundoan Empire conquered her people’s land three generations ago. But this ghost isn’t the same as the others she has glimpsed, the lost souls she has helped to find their way to the land beyond life. This ghost demands that Voada follow a new path, one that will mean leaving behind everything and everyone she has known and loved. Voada will come to understand the power that her people possess, but she will also learn the steep price that must be paid for such a gift. Fast-moving and intense, A Fading Sun explores grief, sacrifice, ambition, and the forging of personality in the crucible of war.

Read more less

Inventive and heart-racing, this fierce feminist teen fantasy from debut author Bree Barton explores a dark kingdom in which only women can possess magic—and every woman is suspected of having it.Fans of Leigh Bardugo and Laini Taylor won’t want to miss this gorgeously written, bold novel, the first in the Heart of Thorns trilogy.In the ancient river kingdom, where touch is a battlefield and bodies the instruments of war, Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood. The same women who killed her mother without a single scratch.But when Mia's father announces an alliance with the royal family, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Determined to forge her own path forward, Mia plots a daring escape, but could never predict the greatest betrayal of all: her own body. Mia possesses the very magic she has sworn to destroy.Now, as she untangles the secrets of her past, Mia must learn to trust her heart…even if it kills her.

Read more less

In this timely and gripping novel, author Bettina Restrepo exposes the challenges of one girl’s unique yet universal immigrant experience. This is an eye-opening look into the harrowing journey a family takes to forge a more hopeful future. The paperback includes a new foreword and additional resources.Nora is on a desperate journey far away from home. When her father leaves their beloved Mexico in search of work, Nora stays behind. She fights to make sense of her loss while living in poverty—in wait of her father’s return and a better day.When the letters and money stop coming, Nora decides that she and her mother must look for him in Texas. After a frightening experience crossing the border, the two are all alone in a strange place. Nora must find the strength to survive while aching for small comforts: friends, a new school, and her quinceañera.* Booklist Top Ten First Novels for Youth * YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers * Amelia Bloomer List * TAYSHAS Reading List Pick *

Read more less

Kicking On! How Footballers Win the Post-Retirement Game of Life takes an upbeat look at players who have retired from the game to forge successful, positive and interesting second careers.Retirement can be a traumatic time of life – particularly if you’re in your mid-30s and football’s all you’ve ever known. Many retired players struggle to cope with that pivotal moment when they have to leave the game for good. There’s a heartbreaking trail of tales of those whose post-footballing lives have been sad or even tragic. But this book looks at the other side of the coin – the players who have flourished after hanging up their boots. Whether it’s setting up charities, helping others cope with the challenges of life, creating multi-million-pound businesses, going into the media, politics, or back into football itself, there are more than 200 former players here with inspiring feel-good stories to share. Kicking On! is solid proof that a successful footballing career can be just the first chapter in a fulfilling life.

Read more less

The true story of an incredible journey and the master-apprentice relationship. Moving and inspiring. This is the extraordinary account of a “magical” but also very real encounter between a young boy and a martial arts teacher. Their meeting becomes the starting point of a life studded with dramatic fights, spiritual enlightenment, friendship and betrayal, victories and defeats. At the end of the sixties in old Genoa an Italian child meets an old Chinese man working as a carpenter. Behind his craft, the man hides a life of conflict, escapes and mystery. Sensing little Paolo’s determination and talent, he subjects him to arduous training to temper his character and teach him the path to inner balance. Still a young man, Paolo travels to China, a country then still very much closed off to Westerners. There he will overcome demanding trials, face battles in which he will risk his life, and overcome tough physical and spiritual tests. Young Paolo will also gain amazing experiences, forge invaluable friendships, and eventually become one of the best-known martial arts teachers today.

Read more less

Will, an agender teen, struggles with the haunting aftermath of parental abuse as they forge a new life and love in this novel that is perfect for fans of If These Wings Could Fly and Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Will is a 17-year-old on the cusp of freedom: freedom from providing and caring for their abusive, addicted mother, freedom from their small town with an even smaller mindset, and the freedom from having to hide who they truly are. When their drug dealer mother dies months before their 18th birthday, Will is granted their freedom earlier than expected. But their mother's last words haunt Will: She cursed them with her dying breath, claiming her death was their fault. Soon their mother's drug-dealing past threatens Will's new shiny future, leaving Will scrambling to find their beloved former foster mother Raz before Child Protective Services or local drug dealers find them first. But how do you reconnect with family and embark on a new love when you're convinced you destroy everything you touch?

Read more less

What could tear the sisters apart?Sisters Margaret and Annie lost their mother years ago, they long for her every day. Their frightfully protective father keeps the girls close but he can’t protect them forever . . . When a scandal rocks the family, the girls are forced to leave their home.The girls flee to Birmingham’s jewellery quarter to stay with the one person they can rely on – their uncle, goldsmith Ebenezer Watts and his warm-hearted wife, Hatt. Annie takes up work at a nearby factory, where she learns to forge cutlery, and Margaret is employed as a chain maker. By day Margaret works in cramped confines, alongside a local silversmith, and soon the links between the pair begin to bond . . . Annie’s work in the factory exposes her to great horrors but it also opens her heart to great possibility. But what are the Sisters of Gold hiding? They’ve escaped their past once – can it remain hidden?Sisters of Gold is an emotional and heart-warming story set against a richly imagined Birmingham setting, from Annie Murray, author of The Doorstep Child.

Read more less

Following the recent global housing boom, tract housing development became a billion-dollar industry in Mexico. At the national level, neoliberal housing policy has overtaken debates around land reform. For Indigenous peoples, access to affordable housing remains crucial to alleviating poverty. But as palapas, traditional thatch and wood houses, are replaced by tract houses in the Yucatán Peninsula, Indigenous peoples' relationship to land, urbanism, and finance is similarly transformed, revealing a legacy of debt and dispossession. Indigenous Dispossession examines how Maya families grapple with the ramifications of neoliberal housing policies. M. Bianet Castellanos relates Maya migrants' experiences with housing and mortgage finance in Cancún, one of Mexico's fastest-growing cities. Their struggle to own homes reveals colonial and settler colonial structures that underpin the city's economy, built environment, and racial order. But even as Maya people contend with predatory lending practices and foreclosure, they cultivate strategies of resistance—from "waiting out" the state, to demanding Indigenous rights in urban centers. As Castellanos argues, it is through these maneuvers that Maya migrants forge a new vision of Indigenous urbanism.

Read more less

Following the recent global housing boom, tract housing development became a billion-dollar industry in Mexico. At the national level, neoliberal housing policy has overtaken debates around land reform. For Indigenous peoples, access to affordable housing remains crucial to alleviating poverty. But as palapas, traditional thatch and wood houses, are replaced by tract houses in the Yucatán Peninsula, Indigenous peoples' relationship to land, urbanism, and finance is similarly transformed, revealing a legacy of debt and dispossession. Indigenous Dispossession examines how Maya families grapple with the ramifications of neoliberal housing policies. M. Bianet Castellanos relates Maya migrants' experiences with housing and mortgage finance in Cancún, one of Mexico's fastest-growing cities. Their struggle to own homes reveals colonial and settler colonial structures that underpin the city's economy, built environment, and racial order. But even as Maya people contend with predatory lending practices and foreclosure, they cultivate strategies of resistance—from "waiting out" the state, to demanding Indigenous rights in urban centers. As Castellanos argues, it is through these maneuvers that Maya migrants forge a new vision of Indigenous urbanism.

Read more less

In Revisiting Women’s Cinema, Lingzhen Wang ponders the roots of contemporary feminist stagnation and the limits of both commercial mainstream and elite minor cultures by turning to socialist women filmmakers in modern China. She foregrounds their sociopolitical engagements, critical interventions, and popular artistic experiments, offering a new conception of socialist and postsocialist feminisms, mainstream culture, and women’s cinema. Wang highlights the films of Wang Ping and Dong Kena in the 1950s and 1960s and Zhang Nuanxin and Huang Shuqin in the 1980s and 1990s to unveil how they have been profoundly misread through extant research paradigms entrenched in Western Cold War ideology, post-second-wave cultural feminism, and post-Mao intellectual discourses. Challenging received interpretations, she elucidates how socialist feminism and culture were conceptualized and practiced in relation to China’s search not only for national independence and economic development but also for social emancipation, proletarian culture, and socialist internationalism. Wang calls for a critical reevaluation of historical materialism, socialist feminism, and popular culture to forge an integrated emancipatory vision for future transnational feminist and cultural practices.

Read more less

Discover fundamental principles of high-stakes change and organizational transformation The "primes" are universal and unavoidable patterns of group behavior that emerge whenever people attempt to transform systems or collaborate to solve complex problems. Every change agent has felt their effect, but few can recognize, anticipate, and manage them. Unacknowledged, the primes can put any leadership agenda at risk. Once mastered, the primes become a force that drives intended outcomes. The Primes is a field manual for anyone ready to step up to serious challenges, predict and manage inevitable problems, create a brighter future, and produce extraordinary results. An essential guide for 21st century problem solvers and change agents, The Primes unveils 46 universal secrets of how to: Tackle complex problems successfully and deliver extraordinary results on time Forge lasting consensus among competing interests and keep teams focused and productive Recognize and eliminate the most destructive forces in an organization Establish cultures of integrity The Primes gives leaders the edge they need to succeed. Once the primes are revealed, you'll see them everywhere!

Read more less

In Forging Arizona Anita Huizar-Hernández looks back at a bizarre nineteenth-century land grant scheme that tests the limits of how ideas about race, citizenship, and national expansion are forged. During the aftermath of the U.S.-Mexico War and the creation of the current border, a con artist named James Addison Reavis falsified archives around the world to pass his wife off as the heiress to an enormous Spanish land grant so that they could claim ownership of a substantial portion of the newly-acquired Southwestern territories. Drawing from a wide variety of sources including court records, newspapers, fiction, and film, Huizar-Hernández argues that the creation, collapse, and eventual forgetting of Reavis’s scam reveal the mechanisms by which narratives, real and imaginary, forge borders. An important addition to extant scholarship on the U.S Southwest border, Forging Arizona recovers a forgotten case that reminds readers that the borders that divide nations, identities, and even true from false are only as stable as the narratives that define them.

Read more less

With an emphasis on peer–produced content and collaboration, Wikipedia exemplifies a departure from traditional management and organizational models. This iconic "project" has been variously characterized as a hive mind and an information revolution, attracting millions of new users even as it has been denigrated as anarchic and plagued by misinformation. Have Wikipedia's structure and inner workings promoted its astonishing growth and enduring public relevance? In Common Knowledge?, Dariusz Jemielniak draws on his academic expertise and years of active participation within the Wikipedia community to take readers inside the site, illuminating how it functions and deconstructing its distinctive organization. Against a backdrop of misconceptions about its governance, authenticity, and accessibility, Jemielniak delivers the first ethnography of Wikipedia, revealing that it is not entirely at the mercy of the public: instead, it balances open access and power with a unique bureaucracy that takes a page from traditional organizational forms. Along the way, Jemielniak incorporates fascinating cases that highlight the tug of war among the participants as they forge ahead in this pioneering environment.

Read more less

In August 1917, the Canadian Corps captured Hill 70, a vital piece of ground just north of the French industrial town of Lens. The Canadians suffered some 5,400 casualties and defeated three days of determined German counter attacks. This spectacularly successful but shockingly costly battle was as innovative as Vimy, yet only a handful of Canadians have heard of it or of subsequent attempts to capture Lens, which resulted in nearly 3,300 more casualties. In Capturing Hill 70, leading military historians mark the centenary of this triumph by dissecting different facets of the battle, from planning and the conduct of operations to long-term repercussions and commemoration.This richly illustrated and thought-provoking book reinstates Hill 70 to its rightful place among the pantheon of battles that helped forge the reputation of the famed Canadian Corps during the First World War, and it sheds new light on the key role played by Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Currie, who fought his first major action as commander of the Canadian Corps.

Read more less

Over the course of more than three centuries, the diverse communities of Louisiana have engaged in creative living practices to forge a vibrant, multifaceted, and fully developed Creole culture. Against the backdrop of ongoing anti-Blackness and Indigenous erasure that has sought to undermine this rich culture, Louisiana Creoles have found transformative ways to uphold solidarity, kinship, and continuity, retaking Louisiana Creole agency as a post-contact Afro-Indigenous culture. Engaging themes as varied as foodways, queer identity, health, historical trauma, language revitalization, and diaspora, Louisiana Creole Peoplehood explores vital ways a specific Afro-Indigenous community asserts agency while promoting cultural sustainability, communal dialogue, and community reciprocity. With interviews, essays, and autobiographic contributions from community members and scholars, Louisiana Creole Peoplehood tracks the sacred interweaving of land and identity alongside the legacies and genealogies of Creole resistance to bring into focus the Afro-Indigenous people written out of settler governmental policy. In doing so, this collection intervenes against the erasure of Creole Indigeneity to foreground Black/Indian cultural sustainability, agency, and self-determination.

Read more less

“A stunning chronicle of an Indian woman’s coming-of-age... This is electrifying.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review“Is this a ghost story?” Meena asked the barber’s wife who told the tale. “I don’t want to hear scary stories one night before I marry.” “Not all ghost stories are scary,” said the barber’s wife, laughing at Meena. “Besides, we have a long time before us, and stories are little baskets to carry time away in.”Exquisitely written, a blend of ghost stories, myths, and song, The Woman Who Climbed Trees is a haunting, deeply felt multi-generational story that illuminates the transitional nature of women’s lives and the feeling of loss they experience, as they give up one home and family to become part of another.When she marries a man from Nepal, Meena must leave behind her family and home in India and forge a new identity in a strange place. The Woman Who Climbed Trees follows her, the women who surround her, and the daughter she eventually raises, as they carefully navigate the uncertain tides of their diasporic lives.

Read more less

In 2008, the Chinese government cracked down on protests throughout Tibet, and journalist Amy Yee found herself covering a press conference with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, his exile home in India. She never imagined a personal encounter with the spiritual leader would spark a global, fourteen-year journey to spotlight the stories of Tibetans in exile. As she documents how Tibetans live between worlds, Yee comes to know ordinary but extraordinary people like Topden, a monk and unlikely veterinary assistant; Norbu, a chef and political refugee; and Deckyi and Dhondup, a couple forced to leave their middle-class lives in Lhasa. Yee follows them to other parts of India and across oceans and four continents where they forge new lives while sustaining Tibetan identity and culture.Weaving a sweeping travel narrative with intimate on-the-ground reportage, Far from the Rooftop of the World tells these stories and others against the backdrop of milestones and events in Tibet's recent history – many memorable, too many tragic. The resulting portrait illuminates the humanity, strength, and perseverance of a people whose homeland is in crisis.

Read more less

An enduring history of how race and class came together to mark the course of the antebellum US and our present crisis. Roediger shows that in a nation pledged to independence, but less and less able to avoid the harsh realities of wage labor, the identity of "white" came to allow many Northern workers to see themselves as having something in common with their bosses. Projecting onto enslaved people and free Blacks the preindustrial closeness to pleasure that regimented labor denied them, "white workers" consumed blackface popular culture, reshaped languages of class, and embraced racist practices on and off the job. Far from simply preserving economic advantage, white working-class racism derived its terrible force from a complex series of psychological and ideological mechanisms that reinforced stereotypes and helped to forge the very identities of white workers in opposition to Blacks. Full of insight regarding the precarious positions of not-quite-white Irish immigrants to the US and the fate of working class abolitionism, Wages of Whiteness contributes mightily and soberly to debates over the 1619 Project and critical race theory.

Read more less

In the crucible of the 2017 general election, a small group of progressive activists set about trying to change British political life for the better. Armed with the conviction that the old politics was irretrievably broken, the progressive alliance set itself the task of breaching the walls of Britain's tribal political culture. Over the seven weeks of the campaign, even as the struggle between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn built up to a stunning and utterly unexpected climax, the progressive alliance fought its own battle. Its aim was to bridge divides, start conversations and forge alliances on the ground between progressives - socialists, social democrats, liberals, Greens, Welsh and Scottish nationalists - working together against their common foe instead of competing self-destructively against one another. Based on first-hand testimony, All Together Now tells the dramatic story of how the progressive alliance helped shape the story of the 2017 election - and why its aims, its methods and above all its values will shape the future of 21st century politics.

Read more less

On 11 June 323 BC in Babylon, Alexander the Great breathed his last. He left one of the largest empires the world had seen, stretching from Greece to the Punjab. Alexander the Great's death in Babylon that fateful day in June 323 BC triggered an unprecedented crisis. Within a couple of days, Macedonian blood had stained the walls of the chamber in which he died. Within a couple of weeks, Babylon had witnessed the first siege of the post Alexander age. Within a couple of months, a major revolt had erupted on mainland Greece. Within a couple of years, theatres of conflict had arisen across the length and breadth of what was once Alexander's empire. From a Spartan adventurer attempting to forge his own empire in North Africa, to a vast horde of veteran Greek mercenaries heading home from ancient Afghanistan. From a merciless, punitive campaign against some of the most infamous brigands of the time to a warrior princess raising an army and pressing ahead with her own power play during

Read more less

Opposites attract when a super-intelligent geek girl meets a bad boy billionaire in The Love Code, a STEM rom-com from Susannah Nix.When Melody accepts her dream job at an LA aerospace company, the last thing she expects is to run into a college one-night stand. But, not only does he work at the same company – he's the CEO's son.Jeremy's got a girlfriend and a reputation as a bad boy, so Melody resolves to keep her distance and focus on building a new life for herself. But despite her good intentions, she can't seem to stay away from him.As the two begin to forge an unlikely friendship, Melody's attraction to Jeremy grows deeper than she's ready to admit. Can the woman who always plays it safe take a risk on the man who's all wrong for her in all the right ways?An #OppositesAttract STEM rom-com, The Love Code is book one in the Chemistry Lessons series. Each book in the series features a brand-

Read more less

Woke has conquered the West. Identity politics, cancel culture and trans ideology reign. The values of 'inclusivity' and 'diversity' dominate politics, academia, the media, big business and the very language we speak. Censorship and public shaming are the price you pay for dissent. Woke has won - but at what cost? Beneath the politically correct buzzwords lies a politics that is reactionary and elitist. Racial divisions are rehabilitated in the name of anti-racism. Women's rights are destroyed in the name of trans rights. Ordinary people are demonised as bigots, while virtue-signalling corporations pose as radical. Where did woke come from? And whose interests does it serve? This is a book about how a once fringe set of ideas took our elites by storm, and why this is bad news for everyone else. Joanna Williams argues that we have much more in common than the woke would have us believe - and that it is time to come together to forge a freer, more democratic and truly egalitarian future.

Read more less

Authoritative reference guide, using the documents in which arms and armour first appeared to explain and define them. Medieval arms and armour are intrinsically fascinating. From the smoke and noise of the armourer's forge to the bloody violence of the battlefield or the silken panoply of the tournament, weapons and armour - and those who made and bore them - are woven into the fabric of medieval society. This sourcebook will aid anyone who seeks to develop a deeper understanding by introducing and presenting the primary sources in which these artefacts are first mentioned. Over a hundred original documents are transcribed and translated, including wills and inventories, craft statutes, chronicle accounts, and challenges to single combat. The book also includes an extensive glossary, lavishly illustrated with forty-six images of extant armour and weapons from the period, and contemporary artistic depictions from illuminated manuscripts and other sources. This book will therefore be of interest to a wide audience, from the living history practitioner, crafter, and martial artist, to students of literature, military history, art, and material culture.

Read more less

'Playful, obstinate and courageously humorous ... hilarious and later heartbreaking' Guardian 'Sweet, funny, highly inventive' Yorkshire Post The personal, funny and poignant tale of a young refugee, from acclaimed storyteller Benjamin Zephaniah Acclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published. Life is not safe for Alem. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father – until he wakes up to find him gone. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path... ____________________ Brilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue, fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah's novels for young adult readers: Refugee Boy Face Gangsta Rap Teacher's Dead

Read more less

Discover the origins of the warrior Clans in the fifth book of this thrilling Warriors prequel series from #1 nationally bestselling author Erin Hunter. The Dawn of the Clans series takes readers back to the earliest days of the Clans, when the cats first settled in the forest and began to forge the warrior code. The spirit-cats have spoken: to survive, the cats from the mountains must grow and spread like the Blazing Star. Clear Sky believes the only way to grow is to band together again, but few cats are willing to ally with him. While Tall Shadow plans to establish a new camp in the pine forest, River Ripple is content by the water, and Wind Runner has made her own home on the moor. The time has now come for all cats to decide where they will live-and where their allegiances truly lie. Dawn of the Clans #5: A Forest Divided also contains an exclusive bonus scene and a teaser to the next Warriors adventure.

Read more less

As America’s twenty-first-century revolution reaches its endgame, twin sisters must outrun, and outlive, the Common enemy. Outlaw twin sisters Ava and Mira Goodwin were born to defy Texas’s tyrannical and oppressive Governor Roth. They inspired millions across the country to liberate themselves and fight to live free under the new Common rule. But an enemy still endangers their fragile vision for the future. Ava and Mira’s mission: hunt the man down. The once-mighty Governor Roth has fled Dallas. Holding a hostage beloved by Ava and Mira, Roth has a mission, too: regroup his Loyalists, wreak vengeance, and reclaim his power. With the help of a savvy programmer turned rebel warrior, Ava and Mira brave a journey more uncertain than they’ve ever attempted before. As they forge southward into foreign territory—against a ruthless cartel, Roth’s aggressive Texas Guard, and a formidable new foe—courage, alliances, and trust will be tested. Now, in the most unlikely and treacherous of places, the sisters must finish what they started. Before they—and the Common—are erased from history forever.

Read more less

'THE POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR' Tim ShipmanA blistering narrative exposé of infighting, skulduggery and chaos in Corbyn's Labour party, now revised and updated.* A Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times and i Newspaper Book of the Year *Left Out tells, for the first time, the astonishing full story of Labour's recent transformation and historic defeat.Drawing on unrivalled access, this blistering exposé moves from the peak of Jeremy Corbyn's popularity and the shock hung parliament of 2017 to Labour's humbling in 2019 and the election of Keir Starmer. It reveals a party at war with itself, and puts the reader in the room as tensions boil over, sworn enemies forge unlikely alliances and lifelong friendships are tested to breaking point.This is the ultimate account of the greatest experiment seen in British politics for a generation.'Gripping... Every bit as good as people say' Guardian'Reads like a thriller...told with panache and pace' Financial Times'The definitive post-mortem of the Corbyn project' Sunday Times

Read more less

NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES starring Anya Taylor-Joy from Academy-Award nominee Scott Frank and BAFTA nominee Allan Scott'Superb' Time Out'Mesmerizing' Newsweek'Gripping' Financial Times'Sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years - for the pure pleasure and skill of it' Michael Ondaatje'Don't pick this up if you want a night's sleep' ScotsmanWhen she is sent to an orphanage at the age of eight, Beth Harmon soon discovers two ways to escape her surroundings, albeit fleetingly: playing chess and taking the little green pills given to her and the other children to keep them subdued. Before long, it becomes apparent that hers is a prodigious talent, and as she progresses to the top of the US chess rankings she is able to forge a new life for herself. But she can never quite overcome her urge to self-destruct. For Beth, there's more at stake than merely winning and losing.'Few novelists have written about genius - and addiction - as acutely as Walter Tevis' The Telegraph

Read more less

THE PERFECT ASTROLOGY GIFT FOR THE ZODIAC LOVER IN YOUR LIFE!Nobody's future is written in the stars, but we can use the stars to help write our future.For thousands of years people have looked to the night sky for the answers to life's problems. Today's practice is a far cry from newspaper horoscopes and fortune-telling, but instead uses the ancient wisdom of astrology to help us better understand our choices and ourselves. It's not about prescriptive descriptions of personality and fate, but about putting the individual at the centre of decision making.In The Signs, Carolyne Faulkner describes with warmth and humour the qualities associated with each star sign - the good and the bad - and explains how you can use your birth chart (a map of the night sky at the time you were born) to make smarter choices, avoid triggers to stress and forge stronger relationships. This is a clear and simple guide to using the stars to take control of every aspect of your life.

Read more less

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Overstory, an enthralling, wrenching novel about the lives and choices of one family, caught on the cusp of identities.Jonah, Ruth and Joseph are the children of mixed-race parents determined to raise them beyond time, beyond identity, steeped in song. Yet they cannot be protected from the world forever. Even as Jonah becomes a successful young tenor, the opera arena remains fixated on his race. Ruth turns her back on classical music and disappears, dedicating herself to activism and a new relationship. As the years pass, Joseph – the middle child, a pianist and our narrator – must battle not just to remain connected to his siblings, but to forge a future of his own. This is a story of the tragedy of race in America, told through the lives and choices of one family caught on the cusp of identities.‘An epic novel of modern America that weaves ideas of race, music and science into a mysterious but satisfying tapestry... Endlessly fascinating’ Independent

Read more less

Three women, a nation seduced by a madman, and the Nazi breeding program to create a so-called master raceAt Heim Hochland, a Nazi breeding home in Bavaria, three women's fates are irrevocably intertwined. Gundi is a pregnant university student from Berlin. An Aryan beauty, she's secretly a member of a resistance group. Hilde, only eighteen, is a true believer in the cause and is thrilled to carry a Nazi official's child. And Irma, a 44-year-old nurse, is desperate to build a new life for herself after personal devastation. All three have everything to lose.Based on untold historical events, this novel brings us intimately inside the Lebensborn Society maternity homes that actually existed in several countries during World War II, where thousands of "racially fit" babies were bred and taken from their mothers to be raised as part of the new Germany. But it proves that in a dark period of history, the connections women forge can carry us through, even driving us to heroism we didn't know we had within us.

Read more less

The 40th anniversary edition of the “shocking” #1 New York Times bestseller with an exclusive new introduction by the author (Los Angeles Times). When Christina Crawford’s harrowing chronicle of child abuse was first published in 1978, it brought global attention to the previously closeted subject. It also shed light on the guarded world of Hollywood and stripped away the faÇade of Christina’s relentless, alcoholic abuser: her adoptive mother, movie star Joan Crawford. Christina was a young girl shown off to the world as a fortunate little princess. But at home, her lonely, controlling, even ruthless mother made her life a nightmare. A fierce battle of wills, their relationship could be characterized as an ultimately successful, for Christina, struggle for independence. She endured and survived, becoming the voice of so many other victims who suffered in silence, and giving them the courage to forge a productive life out of chaos. This book features an exclusive new introduction by the author, plus rare photographs from her personal collection and one hundred pages of revealing material not found in the original manuscript.

Read more less