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Market Risk Analysis is the most comprehensive, rigorous and detailed resource available on market risk analysis. Written as a series of four interlinked volumes each title is self-contained, although numerous cross-references to other volumes enable readers to obtain further background knowledge and information about financial applications. Volume I: Quantitative Methods in Finance covers the essential mathematical and financial background for subsequent volumes. Although many readers will already be familiar with this material, few competing texts contain such a complete and pedagogical exposition of all the basic quantitative concepts required for market risk analysis. There are six comprehensive chapters covering all the calculus, linear algebra, probability and statistics, numerical methods and portfolio mathematics that are necessary for market risk analysis. This is an ideal background text for a Masters course in finance. Volume II: Practical Financial Econometrics provides a detailed understanding of financial econometrics, with applications to asset pricing and fund management as well as to market risk analysis. It covers equity factor models, including a detailed analysis of the Barra model and tracking error, principal component analysis, volatility and correlation, GARCH, cointegration, copulas, Markov switching, quantile regression, discrete choice models, non-linear regression, forecasting and model evaluation. Volume III: Pricing, Hedging and Trading Financial Instruments has five very long chapters on the pricing, hedging and trading of bonds and swaps, futures and forwards, options and volatility as well detailed descriptions of mapping portfolios of these financial instruments to their risk factors. There are numerous examples, all coded in interactive Excel spreadsheets, including many pricing formulae for exotic options but excluding the calibration of stochastic volatility models, for which Matlab code is provided. The chapters on options and volatility together constitute 50% of the book, the slightly longer chapter on volatility concentrating on the dynamic properties the two volatility surfaces the implied and the local volatility surfaces that accompany an option pricing model, with particular reference to hedging. Volume IV: Value at Risk Models builds on the three previous volumes to provide by far the most comprehensive and detailed treatment of market VaR models that is currently available in any textbook. The exposition starts at an elementary level but, as in all the other volumes, the pedagogical approach accompanied by numerous interactive Excel spreadsheets allows readers to experience the application of parametric linear, historical simulation and Monte Carlo VaR models to increasingly complex portfolios. Starting with simple positions, after a few chapters we apply value-at-risk models to interest rate sensitive portfolios, large international securities portfolios, commodity futures, path dependent options and much else. This rigorous treatment includes many new results and applications to regulatory and economic capital allocation, measurement of VaR model risk and stress testing.

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This is the first scientific-educational work in English on this topic. The Caucasus Isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas (38025' and 47015'N, 36030' and 50020'E) is a region in the Northern Hemisphere. It covers an area of approximately 441,000km2. Being a natural bridge between Europe and Asia, the Caucasus is an extraordinary crossroads in terms of its geopolitical status, cultural heritage, and biodiversity. The Caucasus is famous for having some of the richest biodiversity, making it one of the 34 most diverse and endangered biodiversity hotspots in the world. The region occurs from among the lush, broad-leaved forests along the Black Sea coastal area, to the well-expressed nival zone and the deserts of the eastern Caucasus. Flora within the Caucasus is diverse, with about 6,300 species of vascular plants, 1,600 of which are endemic and relict endemics (25.3 %). Biota of the Caucasus has always aroused the interest of scholars. Studies conducted by botanists and zoologists on the biodiversity of the Caucasus started in the beginning of the 18th century. Such research activities were relatively short-term, and based solely on either plant or animal investigations. Long-term, comprehensive (floristic, faunistic, biogeographical) studies of the wilderness of the Caucasus in all biomes and altitudinal zones, and in all vegetation seasons, were carried out by Dr G. Radde in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and Dr A. M. Gegechkori in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries. In the framework of the Caucasus biota, the main target of research activity of Dr. Gegechkori (1962-2018) was psyllids (Insecta; Hemiptera: Psylloidea) - a highly indicative (bio-indicator) group for environmental research. This text aims to provide information for naturalists, concerning the biota of the Caucasus, through its biomes, amd refugial areas and habitats. The work is focused on supplying a datebase for the current presence and distribution of many speceis, with an emphasis on the keastone species, the existance and range of which face major challenges and threats today, caused primarily by human's direct and indirect activity, and global warming. The book incorporates the most recent taxonomic ranking of plants and animals species in the Caucasus, and the regularity and history of its biomes, among other topics. The monograph is also heavily illustrated with mostly original color photos, which reinforce the scientific quality of the text. This book will be of great interest to scholars of life and earth sciences and geographers. As an interdisciplinary work, the monograph provides students of all levels with valuable information on the environmental sciences, which may isnpire them to pursue this topic within natural science, stimulating their research and career choices. Finally, the purpose of the work is to strenghten the readers' awareness of the environmental challenges among the local people of the Caucasus, in light of on-going environmental changes, and the necessity of protection of this region's natural resources.

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Inspirational and informative pocket guide, shining a spotlight on the best of holidaying at home in the UK through clearly laid-out walking and driving itineraries.Explore the best of the Lake District with this unique Rough Guide Staycations Lake District, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like Derwent Water, Lake Windermere and Tarn Hows to discovering hidden gems, including visiting Wordsworth's home at Dove Cottage, wondering at Castlerigg's ancient stone circle, and taking a ride on an historic steamer on Ullswater, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking and driving routes will save you time, help you plan, and enhance your staycation in the Lake District. This book has been fully updated post-COVID-19 and it comes with a free eBook.The Rough Guide Staycations to the Lake District covers: Kendal to Windermere, Ullswater and Kirkstone Pass, Coniston and Hawkshead, Keswick to Grasmere, Borrowdale and Buttermere, around Skiddaw, The Western Lakes and The Southwest.Inside this travel guide you will find:INFORMATION FOR EVERY TYPE OF TRAVELLERProvides practical information for every kind of trip to the Lake District, from discovering local history in Kendal to getting out in nature in Langdale Valley and finding family-friendly activities in Keswick.8 READY TO FOLLOW WALKS AND TOURSFeatures over 8 detailed easy to follow walking tour itineraries, including Borrowdale and Buttermere, around Skiddaw.LOCAL HIGHLIGHTSCarefully curated list of the Lake District's unmissable sights and unique attractions for those who want to make the most of their stay.RAINY DAY RECOMMENDATIONSUncover plenty of options, whatever the weather throws at you like exploring the Cumberland Pencil Museum in Keswick. INSIDER RECOMMENDATIONSTips on how to beat the crowds, save time and money and find the best local spots for walking, boating, climbing or fell running.Find a curated list of where to stay and what to do, from active pursuits to themed trips.HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INSIGHTSLearn more about the Lake District's rich history with fascinating cultural insights throughout.PRACTICAL TRAVEL TIPSFrom transport to hours of operation, we've got you covered whatever you choose to see and do around the Lake District including getting there, getting around by public transport, accommodation, detailed food and drink highlights, and sports and activities in the region.METICULOUS MAPPINGPractical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered sights relating to major points of interest in the main text. Find your way around The Western Lakes, Duddon Valley and many more locations in the Lake District without needing to go online.FREE EBOOK Free eBook download with every purchase of a printed book to access all content from your phone or tablet for on-the-road exploration.

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This Insight Guide is a lavishly illustrated inspirational travel guide to West Coast USA and a beautiful souvenir of your trip. Perfect for travellers looking for a deeper dive into the destination's history and culture, it's ideal to inspire and help you plan your travels. With its great selection of places to see and colourful magazine-style layout, this West Coast USA guidebook is just the tool you need to accompany you before or during your trip. Whether it's deciding when to go, choosing what to see or creating a travel plan to cover key places like Los Angeles, Death Valley, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Grand Canyon, it will answer all the questions you might have along the way. It will also help guide you when you'll be exploring Seattle or discovering San Francisco on the ground. Our West Coast USA travel guide was fully-updated post-COVID-19.The Insight Guide WEST COAST USA covers: Seattle, Puget Islands, Olympic and Washington Coast, Western Oregon, Portland and Central Oregon, Oregon Coast, Northern California, Wine Country, Central Valley, San Francisco and the Bay, Monterey Big Sur, Southern California, Los Angeles, San Diego.In this guide book to West Coast USA you will find:IN-DEPTH CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL FEATURES Created to provide a deeper dive into the culture and the history of West Coast USA to get a greater understanding of its modern-day life, people and politics.BEST OFThe top attractions and Editor's Choice featured in this West Coast USA guide book highlight the most special places to visit.TIPS AND FACTSUp-to-date historical timeline and in-depth cultural background to West Coast USA as well as an introduction to West Coast USA's food and drink, and fun destination-specific features. PRACTICAL TRAVEL INFORMATIONA-Z of useful advice on everything, from when to go to West Coast USA, how to get there and how to get around, to West Coast USA's climate, advice on tipping, etiquette and more.COLOUR-CODED CHAPTERSEvery part of the destination, from South Carolina to Seattle has its own colour assigned for easy navigation of this West Coast USA travel guide.CURATED PLACES, HIGH-QUALITY MAPSGeographically organised text, cross-referenced against full-colour, high-quality travel maps for quick orientation in Boston, Buffalo and many other locations in West Coast USA.STRIKING PICTURESThis guide book to West Coast USA features inspirational colour photography, including the stunning Yellowstone National Park and the spectacular Niagara Falls.FREE EBOOKFree eBook download with every purchase of this travel guide to West Coast USA to access all the content from your phone or tablet, for on-the-road exploration.

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One of the Best Cookbooks of 2021 by the New York Times Experience the sublime beauty and flavor of one of the oldest and most delicious cuisines on earth: the food of Shanghai, China’s most exciting city, in this evocative, colorful gastronomic tour that features 100 recipes, stories, and more than 150 spectacular color photographs.Filled with galleries, museums, and gleaming skyscrapers, Shanghai is a modern metropolis and the world’s largest city proper, the home to twenty-four million inhabitants and host to eight million visitors a year. “China’s crown jewel” (Vogue), Shanghai is an up-and-coming food destination, filled with restaurants that specialize in international cuisines, fusion dishes, and chefs on the verge of the next big thing. It is also home to some of the oldest and most flavorful cooking on the planet.Betty Liu, whose family has deep roots in Shanghai and grew up eating homestyle Shanghainese food, provides an enchanting and intimate look at this city and its abundant cuisine. In this sumptuous book, part cookbook, part travelogue, part cultural study, she cuts to the heart of what makes Chinese food Chinese—the people, their stories, and their family traditions. Organized by season, My Shanghai takes us through a year in the Shanghai culinary calendar, with flavorful recipes that go beyond the standard, well-known fare, and stories that illuminate diverse communities and their food rituals.Chinese food is rarely associated with seasonality. Yet as Liu reveals, the way the Shanghainese interact with the seasons is the essence of their cooking: what is on a dinner table is dictated by what is available in the surrounding waters and fields. Live seafood, fresh meat, and ripe vegetables and fruits are used in harmony with spices to create a variety of refined dishes all through the year. My Shanghai allows everyone to enjoy the homestyle food Chinese people have eaten for centuries, in the context of how we cook today. Liu demystifies Chinese cuisine for home cooks, providing recipes for family favorites that have been passed down through generations as well as authentic street food: her mother’s lion’s head meatballs, mung bean soup, and weekday stir-fries; her father-in-law’s pride and joy, the Nanjing salted duck; the classic red-braised pork belly (as well as a riff to turn them into gua bao!); and core basics like high stock, wontons, and fried rice.In My Shanghai, there is something for everyone—beloved noodle and dumpling dishes, as well as surprisingly light fare. Though they harken back centuries, the dishes in this outstanding book are thoroughly modern—fresh and vibrant, sophisticated yet understated, and all bursting with complex flavors that will please even the most discriminating or adventurous palate.

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Here Ted Hunt offers the chance for golfers to improving their game by focusing his attention on the elements of golf legend Ben Hogan’s picture-perfect swing specific to shots attempted within one hundred yards of the flagstick.Beginning with an overview of Hogan’s magical device for the uninitiated, Hunt then segues into a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of Hogan’s swing from the takeaway to the follow-through, with each step garnering its own dedicated chapter complete with illustrations, photos, and drills. Subsequent chapters deal specifically with chip shots; flop shots; bunker shots; putts; spinning, drawing, and fading the ball; Hogan’s fundamentals; additional drills/exercises; and a special chapter on Hogan stories. Chapters include: PUTTING WITH HOGAN’S SYSTEM CHIPPING WITH HOGAN’S MAGICAL DEVICE THE PITCH SHOT THREE-QUARTER SHOT FOR ACCURACY TURNING THROUGH THE BALL SPECIALTY SHOTS GREENSIDE SHOTS PROBLEM SHOTS GOLF EXERCISES AT HOME AND MUCH MORE! “Please remember, the following revelations are not my golf techniques. They are Ben Hogan’s techniques—as described to me, piece by piece, by fascinated professional golfers who studied Hogan, or who had at least observed him with an analytical eye. As Kafka said, ‘The writer has nothing to say. He just presents evidence.’ On the Hogan topic, I had the privilege of interviewing Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Alvie Thompson, George Knudson, and Mike Souchak. I caddied for Moe Norman, Ted Kroll, Jay Hebert, Bing Crosby, and Babe Didrickson Zaharias. Then I was lucky enough to play with Stan Leonard, Moe Norman, Davis Love III, Dick Zokol, Jim Thorpe, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin, Tom Kite, Ernie Brown, Brad Faxon, Jim Furyk, Joey Sindelar, and Bob Hope—all of whom had observations and stories about Ben Hogan. These experiences were fortuitous and pleasurable. From these informed sources I gathered snippets of detailed information. Their insights were always in their own language, which was mostly slang terminology with perhaps a demonstration thrown if they had the time: ‘wringing the towel,’ ‘changing the chuck on the lever,’ ‘buckling the wrist,’ ‘rolling the wrist,’ ‘arch and twist,’ ‘keep a flat wrist’ ‘square to square.’ It was my job to sift through the verbiage, and to put it into understandable, and universal, anatomical terms for reliable transmission. In the hopes of persuading you to give Hogan’s short game system an honest try, I will get into the good stuff as quickly as possible

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Worshipped by Tea Party politicians but loathed by sane economists, gold has historically influenced American monetary policy and has exerted an often outsized influence on the national psyche for centuries. Now, acclaimed business writer James Ledbetter explores the tumultuous history and larger-than-life personalities—from George Washington to Richard Nixon—behind America’s volatile relationship to this hallowed metal and investigates what this enduring obsession reveals about the American identity. Exhaustively researched and expertly woven, One Nation Under Gold begins with the nation’s founding in the 1770s, when the new republic erupted with bitter debates over the implementation of paper currency in lieu of metal coins. Concerned that the colonies’ thirteen separate currencies would only lead to confusion and chaos, some Founding Fathers believed that a national currency would not only unify the fledgling nation but provide a perfect solution for a country that was believed to be lacking in natural silver and gold resources. Animating the "Wild West" economy of the nineteenth century with searing insights, Ledbetter brings to vivid life the actions of Whig president Andrew Jackson, one of gold’s most passionate advocates, whose vehement protest against a standardized national currency would precipitate the nation’s first feverish gold rush. Even after the establishment of a national paper currency, the virulent political divisions continued, reaching unprecedented heights at the Democratic National Convention in 1896, when presidential aspirant William Jennings Bryan delivered the legendary "Cross of Gold" speech that electrified an entire convention floor, stoking the fears of his agrarian supporters. While Bryan never amassed a wide-enough constituency to propel his cause into the White House, America’s stubborn attachment to gold persisted, wreaking so much havoc that FDR, in order to help rescue the moribund Depression economy, ordered a ban on private ownership of gold in 1933. In fact, so entrenched was the belief that gold should uphold the almighty dollar, it was not until 1973 that Richard Nixon ordered that the dollar be delinked from any relation to gold—completely overhauling international economic policy and cementing the dollar’s global significance. More intriguing is the fact that America’s exuberant fascination with gold has continued long after Nixon’s historic decree, as in the profusion of late-night television ads that appeal to goldbug speculators that proliferate even into the present. One Nation Under Gold reveals as much about American economic history as it does about the sectional divisions that continue to cleave our nation, ultimately becoming a unique history about economic irrationality and its influence on the American psyche.

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Pardon me, but I'm shivering a bit at my core. These are restless, storm-hued stanzas, revelations of our dark cravings and hapless, woefully imperfect attempts at perfect love. Here are the dreams even our dreams won't reveal, flaunting wild edges and endings that nudge the soul, each fusing of lyric and lesson as potent as a backhand slap. And Mama watches everything. Mama sees it all."" - Patricia Smith""What's living without fear of getting lost?"" That's only one of many empowering moments in Jennifer Givhan's auspicious debut. Her ""blood magic"" ink delivers the hard truths that kick-start the healing of the ""splintered cactus"" that hurdles the path of a woman's journey. Landscape with Headless Mama blossoms with the ""strange alloys of sadness"" that devastate motherhood and femininity, and then nurture their wounds back to vibrant life."" - Rigoberto González""In Jennifer Givhan's Landscape with Headless Mama, the vivid truth of these poems evokes both the wince of pain and the head-rush of joy, the familial and the romantic disconnections we endure and those connections found in the same terrain that we, still, manage to cherish. If there's a line in these poems that doesn't surprise, I couldn't find it; one never knows where the poem will take us. I found myself tracing ""maps of the borderland into my body/ cliff dwelling, the taste of red brick on the tongue…."" Each figure rendered, each voice conjured comes to life with their distinct journey, and Givhan continues to remind us of yet another truth: ""There are other ways for the story to end."" Indeed, the possibilities seem limitless in this world she builds. If a collection of poems can be called a page-turner, this is what it feels like."" - A. Van Jordan""These are true border poems, restlessly crossing between the real and the surreal, the loved and the used up, the fertile and the infertile, and the hungry and the sated. Jennifer Givhan is a dangerous poet in all the necessary ways.""- Connie VoisineLandscape with Headless Mama explores the experiences of becoming and being a mother through the lens of dark fairy tales. Describing the book as ""a surreal survival guide,"" Givhan draws from the southwestern desert, incorporating Latin American fine art and folkloric influences. Drawing inspiration from Gloria Anzaldúa, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, tattoo artists, and comic book heroes, among other sources, this is a book of intelligence, humor, deep feeling, and, above all, duende.

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Why does the Judge, a powerful, wealthy man bring his world crashing down by murdering his son, Baby-Boy? What is the Beggarman up to when he is seen walking away from the Judge's house with Baby Boy on the day of the murder? Why does Blanche Steadman, servant in the Judge's house, so fear the Beggarman's presence? What is the significance of the dress of feathers that flames and burns in the eyes of anyone who sees it? How does all this relate to the tragic death of the Judge's first wife, who was born with caul over her eyes, the witness bearer, the prophetic conscience of both the present and the past?At the heart of the narrative is Blanche Steadman. She is at first the traumatised sufferer of her own life-shattering tragedy and unwitting observer of the pain locked deep in the secrets of the Judge's house. But through her reading of the Caul girl's diaries, her closeness to the questioning, rebellious Baby-Boy, and her friendship with the market woman, Irene Gittings (who is far from what she first seems) she comes to an understanding both of her own capacities and the hidden forces at work in her world. But it is not until the very last chapter that the whole story emerges, and until that point the reader is engaged in a journey of discovery as complex and surprising as life itself. As Irene Gittings old mother says: 'Open yuh yie, yuh sah gat sense', implying that mostly we pay the consequences of going around with our eyes closed.Set in Guyana, In Remembrance of Her is full of unforgettable characters like Disguile with his dreams of a new empire ruled by Black men, Irene Gittings who succumbs to the dreadful temptation to change the course of the Caul girl's life, cross-dressing Baby-Boy with his white painted face, and Blanche Steadman, who with her enlarging vision becomes a warmly sympathetic guide for the reader to the unfolding mysteries of the story. What emerges, beyond the individual tragedies, is the picture of a wilfully amnesiac society that shuts its eyes and ears to past and present suffering. What Harris's gothic, richly poetic novel shows is the need for a new compassion if the restless dead are to find release and cruelty, pain, guilt and retribution are not to be endlessly recycled.Denise Harris was born in Guyana, the daughter of the novelist Wilson Harris. She works for UNICEF in New York. She is also a photographer.

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Christian Campbell takes us to dusk, what the French call l'heure entre chien et loup, the hour between dog and wolf, to explore ambiguity and intersection, danger and desire, loss and possibility. These poems of wild imagination shift shape and shift generation, remapping Caribbean, British and African American geographies: Oxford becomes Oxfraud; Shabba Ranks duets with Césaire; Sidney Poitier is reconsidered in an exam question; market women hawk poetry beside knock-off Gucci bags; elegies for ancestors are also for land and sea. Here is dancing at the crossroads between reverence and irreverence. Dusk is memory, dusk is dream, dusk is a way to re-imagine the past.Running the Dusk won the 2010 Aldeburgh First Collection Prize and was shortlisted for the 2010 Forward Poetry Prize for the Best First Book in the UK. It was also named a finalist for the Cave Canem Prize by Sonia Sanchez."Running the Dusk gives us a new voice for Caribbean arts and letters, and Christian Campbell is one of the few perfectly suited to accept this mantle. His poems don't address the obvious in a tumultuous, beautiful landscape of hearts and minds, personal and public rituals, but his voice dares to take a step beyond, to bridge the diaspora of the spirit. If you're holding Running the Dusk in your hands, you are lucky to be facing the gutsy work of a long-distance runner who possesses the wit and endurance, the staying power of authentic genius. This first collection is controlled beauty and strength, and the exhilaration of images and music encountered are necessary and believable. There's great celebration here."Yusef Komunyakaa, Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet and Global Distinguished Professor of English at NYU"A truly auspicious debut by a brilliant young writer of wide-open ear and versatile tongue. Campbell's imagery slices through fog; these poems are nourished by New World etymologies and old-school ways and wisdoms. His use of poetic form is drum-tight and yet these poems unfold like the infinity of a coast-line, sinuous and generous. In the black diaspora Campbell writes from and about, 'all angels have afros' and all poems are song. Running the Dusk is deep-souled, keen-eyed, knowing, honed, gorgeous. This is a heralding book we'll be talking about for a long time to come."Elizabeth Alexander, Obama's Inaugural Poet and Chair of African American Studies at Yale UniversityChristian Campbell studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. His poetry and essays have been published widely in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and North America.

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National Geographic's Canada Central Adventure Map is designed to meet the needs of adventure travelers with its durability and detailed, accurate information. The map includes the locations of cities and towns with a user-friendly index, a clearly marked road network complete with distances and designations for roads/highways, plus secondary routes for those seeking to explore off the beaten path for destinations between Alberta and Ontario. Adventure Maps differ from a traditional road map because of the specialty content they include. Each map contains hundreds of diverse and unique recreational, ecological, cultural, and historic destinations - outside of the major tourist hubs. Whether you are staying in the Polar Bear capital of the world on Hudson Bay, visiting Ontario's award-winning wine region, or sitting beside a campfire in Algonquin Provincial Park, National Geographic Adventure Maps are the perfect companion to a guidebook, yet far easier to pack!On side one, explore the diverse landscape of Manitoba, bordered by Ontario to the east, the arctic coastline of the Nunavut Territory to the north, and North Dakota and Minnesota in the south. Saskatchewan, where you are never far from lake or river recreational opportunities, lies directly to the west, bordered by the Prairie province of Alberta and Montana. The adventure continues on side two, heading to the extreme north with the untouched Labrador Peninsula and Inuit culture of Nunavut. Cross the James Bay to explore the many provincial parks of Ontario, or journey south to the maple hills and lakes of the Algonquin Upland. The Canada Central Adventure Map is printed in the United States on a durable synthetic paper, making it waterproof, tear-resistant, and capable of withstanding the rigors of international travel. The map is two-sided and is folded to a packable size of 235 x 108 mm; unfolded size is 965 x 660 mm. Travel Tip! Due to the synthetic sheet that Adventure Maps are printed on, you can easily fold the map to a discreet size, showing just the area you're interested in. Key Features:* Waterproof and tear-resistant* Designed and printed in the U. S. A.* Detailed topography with clearly labeled natural features* Major road networks* Hundreds of points of interest, including the location of provincial parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and ski areas.* Thousands of place names with a detailed index* Important travel aids including airports, rail lines, and other infrastructure* Latitude/Longitude and UTM grids along with a compass rose and scale bars for accurate navigation with compass or GPSNet proceeds from the sale of this map go to support the nonprofit mission of the National Geographic Society.

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NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY JANET MASLIN, THE NEW YORK TIMES'Victoria the Queen, Julia Baird's exquisitely wrought and meticulously researched biography, brushes the dusty myth off this extraordinary monarch' The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice).The true story for fans of the hit ITV drama series Victoria starring Jenna Coleman, this page-turning biography reveals the real woman behind the myth: a bold, glamorous, unbreakable queen. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, this stunning book is a story of love and heartbreak, of devotion and grief, of strength and resilience.When Victoria was born, in 1819, the world was a very different place. Revolution would begin to threaten many of Europe's monarchies in the coming decades. In Britain, a generation of royals had indulged their whims at the public's expense, and republican sentiment was growing. The Industrial Revolution was transforming the landscape, and the British Empire was commanding ever larger parts of the globe. Born into a world where woman were often powerless, during a century roiling with change, Victoria went on to rule the most powerful country on earth with a decisive hand.Fifth in line to the throne at the time of her birth, Victoria was an ordinary woman thrust into an extraordinary role. As a girl, she defied her mother's meddling and an adviser's bullying, forging an iron will of her own. As a teenage queen, she eagerly grasped the crown and relished the freedom it brought her. At twenty years old, she fell passionately in love with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, eventually giving birth to nine children. She loved sex and delighted in power. She was outspoken with her ministers, overstepping boundaries and asserting her opinions. After the death of her adored Albert, she began a controversial, intimate relationship with her servant John Brown. She survived eight assassination attempts over the course of her lifetime. And as science, technology, and democracy were dramatically reshaping the world, Victoria was a symbol of steadfastness and security-queen of a quarter of the world's population at the height of the British Empire's reach.Drawing on sources that include revelations about Victoria's relationship with John Brown, Julia Baird brings vividly to life the fascinating story of a woman who struggled with so many of the things we do today: balancing work and family, raising children, navigating marital strife, losing parents, combating anxiety and self-doubt, finding an identity, searching for meaning. This sweeping, page-turning biography gives us the real woman behind the myth.

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Cook your way through 75+ simple yet tantalizing Mediterranean recipes that make the most of what’s in season.Mediterranean Every Day embraces a style of cooking that celebrates flavor with a relaxed, flexible attitude. It’s simple enough for a quick family meal, but never out of place for a weekend gathering with friends. Alongside stunning photography, discover easy crowd-pleasers like Herby Ricotta; weeknight meals like One-Pan Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Bake; and desserts like Roasted Figs with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt. Beyond the recipes, this is a book that teaches how to build a wholesome, well-stocked pantry. Start off with an introduction to the Mediterranean style of cooking and then choose your own adventure:Three-Ingredient (or Less) Snacks and Cocktails: Whether it’s a pre-dinner snack you crave or a simple cocktail to shake up for friends, you’ll find easy and fun ideas like Smoky White Bean Hummus, Za’atar Pistachios, and Honeyed Prosecco.Salads and Soups: Enjoy creative salads like The Easiest Arugula Salad, Smoked Salmon Greek Salad, Peak-Summer Panzanella, and a must-try Niçoise. Hearty soups include Lemon Parmesan Soup with Beans and Greens and Roasted Greek Tomato Soup.Beans, Grains, and Bready Things: This non-traditional chapter features a variety of main dish–worthy recipes that can also be served as sides. Celebrate the seasons with a Spicy Broccoli Rabe and Chickpea Skillet, Lentil Fritters with Herbed Yogurt Dip, a Cheesy Brussels Sprout and Farro Bake, and risotto ideas for winter, spring, summer, and fall.Colorful Pastas: Who doesn’t love a diet that lets you eat pasta? Enjoy feel-good pastas that are heavy on vegetables. Recipes include Brown Butter Tortellini with Spinach and Hazelnuts, Melted Broccoli Pasta with Capers and Anchovies, Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Swordfish, Israeli Couscous Salad with Herbs, Green Olives and Pistachios, and a No-Cook Summer Tomato Pasta.Gathering Dishes: The chapter’s name says it all! Whether it’s Tuesday or Saturday, and whether you’re cooking for just your family or a handful of friends, gather around Salmon in Crazy Water, Thyme Pesto Roast Chicken with Crispy Potatoes, Roasted Cod Saltimbocca, and Baked Chicken Milanese with Lemony Escarole.Desserts: Seasonal and fresh is at the heart of this chapter. Recipes include Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta, Apricot Almond Clafoutis, Rosé-Soaked Peaches, and Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.

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“Dr Charlotte R. Pennington has pulled off a remarkable trifecta of being clear, concise, and comprehensive in covering the origins of the open science movement and practical advice for adopting the behaviors”Professor Brian Nosek, Executive Director, Center for Open Science; University of Virginia, US“My hope is that every psychology student will finish their degree with a heavily annotated, well-thumbed copy of this important and timely book!”Dr Madeleine Pownall, University of Leeds, UK“This book should be on the reading list for all university science degrees and on all library bookshelves. It is concise, accessible, and remarkably interactive, with brilliant use of examples and learning activities. Is there a better instruction manual on how to do science properly? If there is, I haven’t seen it.”Professor Chris Chambers, Cardiff University, UK“This book will equip future generations with the tools necessary to improve our disciplines, and thereby represents a significant ray of hope for the future. Essential and timely.”Dr Emma Henderson, University of Surrey, UK A Student’s Guide to Open Science explores the so-called “replication crisis” in psychology (the inherent difficulties in replicating or reproducing research results to test the robustness of findings) while delving into the ways that open science can address the crisis by transforming research practice.Students will develop a fundamental understanding of the origins and drivers of the crisis and learn how open science practices can enhance research transparency, replication, and reproducibility.With a handy, digestible guide for students and researchers alike on how to implement open science practices within their own workflow, as well as pedagogic teaching and learning activities that can be re-used by educators, Pennington’s new book is an essential guide to navigating the replication crisis.Key features of this book include:• An overview of landmark events that will mark the history of the replication crisis.• Case studies of classic psychological studies undergoing replication.• Test yourself activities to reinforce learning of key concepts, including an open science crossword!• Top tips for adopting open science practices, including study preregistration, Registered Reports, and open materials, code, and data.• Useful illustrations to aid understanding and facilitate revision. New concepts and practices can often feel overwhelming, but this book aims to help students and educators pick what they want from the ‘open science buffet’ and return to the table to fill up their plates again and again. Remember, we are all students of open science and will be for many years to come!Dr Charlotte R. Pennington is a Lecturer in Psychology at Aston University, Birmingham, UK and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is an expert in open science and advocates for the teaching of this within higher education pedagogy.

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We begin - at the turn of the century, in an unnamed South American country - in the childhood home of the woman who will be the mother and grandmother of the clan, Clara del Valle. A warm-hearted, hypersensitive girl, Clara has distinguished herself from an early age with her telepathic abilities - she can read fortunes, make objects move as if they had lives of their own, and predict the future. Following the mysterious death of her sister, the fabled Rosa the Beautiful, Clara has been mute for nine years, resisting all attempts to make her speak. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married soon.Her husband-to-be is Esteban Trueba, a stern, willful man, given to fits of rage and haunted by a profound loneliness. At the age of thirty-five, he has returned to the capital from his country estate to visit his dying mother and to find a wife. (He was Rosa's fiancé, and her death has marked him as deeply as it has Clara.) This is the man Clara has foreseen - has summoned - to be her husband; Esteban, in turn, will conceive a passion for Clara that will last the rest of his long and rancorous life.We go with this couple as they move into the extravagant house he builds for her, a structure that everyone calls "the big house on the corner," which is soon populated with Clara's spiritualist friends, the artists she sponsors, the charity cases she takes an interest in, with Esteban's political cronies, and, above all, with the Trueba children: Blanca, a practical, self-effacing girl who will, to the fury of her father, form a lifelong liaison with the son of his foreman, and the twins, Jaime and Nicolás, the former a solitary, taciturn boy who becomes a doctor to the poor and unfortunate; the latter a playboy, a dabbler in Eastern religions and mystical disciplines and, in the third generation, the child Alba, Blanca's daughter (the family does not recognize the real father for years, so great is Esteban's anger), a child who is fondled and indulged and instructed by them all.For all their good fortune, their natural (and supernatural) talents, and their powerful attachments to one another, the inhabitants of "the big house on the corner" are not immune to the larger forces of the world. And, as the twentieth century beats on, as Esteban becomes more strident in his opposition to Communism, as Jaime becomes the friend and confidant of the Socialist leader known as the Candidate, as Alba falls in love with a student radical, the Truebas become actors - and victims - in a tragic series of events that gives The House of the Spirits a deeper resonance and meaning.

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It is sixty years since the events of October 1962 brought the world close to nuclear catastrophe. The Cuban missile crisis has long been recognised as the moment of greatest danger in the life (and near death) of humanity. In those sixty years, our knowledge and understanding of events have undergone significant change. There are some reasons to be encouraged, inasmuch as we have learned how both President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev sought to avoid nuclear war. More ominously, we have learned of incidents and events that suggest nuclear weapons might have been used by subordinate military commanders, in circumstances frequently unknown to their political leaders. Decisions whether to use nuclear weapons lay in the hands of often junior military commanders, some of whom were perilously close to crossing the nuclear threshold. This does not mean - as often assumed - that if some nuclear weapons were used, escalation to all-out war was inevitable. Yet the undoubted risk of thermonuclear war in these circumstances threatened the very survival of civilisation. Hundreds, if not thousands, of millions of people would have died from immediate and short-term effects, while the longer-term prospect of a 'Nuclear Winter' portended the virtual extinction of humanity. Drawing lessons from sixty years ago faces significant challenges. If we draw lessons only to discover our understanding was mistaken, we might well have drawn the wrong lessons. Many received wisdoms about the crisis have been shown to be misleading. What is striking is how after forty or fifty or even sixty years, new evidence has emerged to challenge previously accepted explanations. It is for the reader to reach their own verdicts on the history of the crisis, and how much we owe to political leaders who averted catastrophe (as well as how their words and deeds helped create the crisis in the first place). It is for the reader to conclude how close we came to nuclear war. Whatever conclusions are reached, one overriding lesson looms large. However we judge the actions of political and military leaders, one factor was crucial in why we avoided nuclear war in 1962. It was luck. In October 1962, humanity was very lucky. Will we be so lucky next time? This book is an outstanding contribution to the ever-growing literature on the truly historic set of events making up the 'Cuban missile crisis'. While experts on the crisis will be familiar with many of the issues confronted, they will discover probably the best-written account of them, will surely learn something new, and be asked to question what they had come to think was settled. - Ken Booth FBA, Distinguished Research Professor, Aberystwyth University

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'HUGELY IMPRESSIVE' - THE INDEPENDENT'AN ASTONISHINGLY FINE HISTORY' - COUNTRY LIFEThe history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join.Deterring Armageddon takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted - and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict.It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing - as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history - and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced.'Utterly eye-opening - compelling, haunting and continually illuminating. As Peter Apps so brilliantly demonstrates in this gripping book, the story of the NATO alliance is in many ways a parallel global history of the last 75 years. As well as all the outbreaks of seething tension between the US and its European allies - and the counter-moves of rival powers - this is also an account of just how often in those postwar years that we all stood on the edge of the most terrible abyss. With mesmerising fluency, and dazzling research, Apps follows the criss-crossing threads of the Cold War and beyond. Those threads converge in our shadowed present, and the conflict in Ukraine. In order to fathom today's dark world, Apps has explored a labyrinth of once-classified history, and he brings dazzling clarity.' - Sinclair McKay

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Winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize Indie Next Pick, April 2019 One of the Atlanta Journal Constitution's "South's 10 best books of 2019" Finalist for the Townsend Prize Books All Georgians Should Read from the Georgia Center for the Book One of the Wall Street Journal's Spring Picks for books Okra Pick from the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance In this gorgeously envisioned debut, set as the emergence of electricity and women’s desire for political, cultural, and sexual power electrified the country, a young woman’s rise to Vaudeville fame exposes secrets of her family’s past—and the keys to her own future. In rural north Georgia two decades after the Civil War, thirteen-year-old Lulu Hurst discovers an obscure book by legendary Mesmerist Henrietta Wolf on her father’s shelf. After Lulu uses Wolf’s wisdom to convince a cousin she can conduct electricity with her touch, her father sees an opportunity. Her father’s lessons transform Lulu, once deemed gangly and indelicate, into an electrifying new woman: The Magnetic Girl, captivating enthusiastic crowds by lifting grown men in parlor chairs, throwing them across the stage with her “electrical charge.” As her notoriety grows, Lulu harbors a secret belief that she can use the power of Mesmerism to heal her disabled baby brother, Leo, with whom she shares a profound and supernatural mental connection. To help him, she delves into the mysterious book’s pages, determined to harness Wolf’s teachings and convince herself, and the world, that her gifts are authentic. But will they be enough to heal her family? Based on true events, this award-winning novel is a unique portrait of a forgotten period in history, seen through the story of one young woman’s power over her family, her community, and ultimately, herself.

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An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library. This book examines the grass-roots relationship between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the civilian population during the Irish Revolution. It is primarily concerned with the attempts of the militant revolutionaries to discourage, stifle, and punish dissent among the local populations in which they operated, and the actions or inactions by which dissent was expressed or implied. Focusing on the period of guerilla war against British rule from c. 1917 to 1922, it uncovers the acts of ‘everyday’ violence, threat, and harm that characterized much of the revolutionary activity of this period. Moving away from the ambushes and assassinations that have dominated much of the discourse on the revolution, the book explores low-level violent and non-violent agitation in the Irish town or parish. The opening chapter treats the IRA’s challenge to the British state through the campaign against servants of the Crown – policemen, magistrates, civil servants, and others – and IRA participation in local government and the republican counter-state. The book then explores the nature of civilian defiance and IRA punishment in communities across the island before turning its attention specifically to the year that followed the ‘Truce’ of July 1921. This study argues that civilians rarely operated at either extreme of a spectrum of support but, rather, in a large and fluid middle ground. Behaviour was rooted in local circumstances, and influenced by local fears, suspicions, and rivalries. IRA punishment was similarly dictated by community conditions and usually suited to the nature of the perceived defiance. Overall, violence and intimidation in Ireland was persistent, but, by some contemporary standards, relatively restrained. Additional resources supporting this book can be found on the Liverpool University Press Digital Collaboration Hub (https://liverpooluniversitypress.manifoldapp.org/projects/defying-the-ira)

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A propulsive and “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) history chronicling the conception and creation of the iconic Disneyland theme park, as told like never before by popular historian Richard Snow.One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California, and imagined building a park where people “could live among Mickey Mouse and Snow White in a world still powered by steam and fire for a day or a week or (if the visitor is slightly mad) forever.” Despite his wealth and fame, exactly no one wanted Disney to build such a park. Not his brother Roy, who ran the company’s finances; not the bankers; and not his wife, Lillian. Amusement parks at that time, such as Coney Island, were a generally despised business, sagging and sordid remnants of bygone days. Disney was told that he would only be heading toward financial ruin. But Walt persevered, initially financing the park against his own life insurance policy and later with sponsorship from ABC and the sale of thousands and thousands of Davy Crockett coonskin caps. Disney assembled a talented team of engineers, architects, artists, animators, landscapers, and even a retired admiral to transform his ideas into a soaring yet soothing wonderland of a park. The catch was that they had only a year and a day in which to build it. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates…and the first day was a disaster. Disney was nearly suicidal with grief that he had failed on a grand scale. But the curious masses kept coming, and the rest is entertainment history. Eight hundred million visitors have flocked to the park since then. In Disney’s Land, “Snow brings a historian’s eye and a child’s delight, not to mention superb writing, to the telling of this fascinating narrative” (Ken Burns) that “will entertain Disneyphiles and readers of popular American history” (Publishers Weekly).

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The New Codependency is an owner’s manual to learning to be who you are and gives you the tools necessary to reclaim your life by renouncing unhealthy practices.In Codependent No More, Melody Beattie introduced the world to the term codependency. Now a modern classic, this book established Beattie as a pioneer in self-help literature and endeared her to millions of readers who longed for healthier relationships. Twenty-five years later concepts such as self-care and setting boundaries have become entrenched in mainstream culture. Now Beattie has written a followup volume, The New Codependency, which clears up misconceptions about codependency, identifies how codependent behavior has changed, and provides a new generation with a road map to wellness. The question remains: What is and what is not codependency? Beattie here reminds us that much of codependency is normal behavior. It’s about crossing lines. There are times we do too much, care too much, feel too little, or overly engage. Feeling resentment after giving is not the same as heartfelt generosity. Narcissism and self-love, enabling and nurturing, and controlling and setting boundaries are not interchangeable terms. In The New Codependency, Beattie explores these differences, effectively invoking her own inspiring story and those of others, to empower us to step out of the victim role forever. Codependency, she shows, is not an illness but rather a series of behaviors that once broken down and analyzed can be successfully combated. Each section offers an overview of and a series of activities pertaining to a particular behavior—caretaking, controlling, manipulation, denial, repression, etc.—enabling us to personalize our own step-by-step guide to wellness. These sections, in conjunction with a series of tests allowing us to assess the level of our codependent behavior, demonstrate that while it may not seem possible now, we have the power to take care of ourselves, no matter what we are experiencing.

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Alison Swan's collection of poems, A Fine Canopy, illustrates how the natural world envelops and encloses us with so many beautiful things: crowns of leaves, the ubiquitous blue sky, our luminous moon, and snow. So much snow. An ecopoet whose writing shows her advocacy for natural resources, in this collection Swan calls the reader to witness, appreciate, and sustain this world before it becomes too late. These poems were written out of an impulse to track down wisdom in the open air, outside of the noisy world of cars and commerce. Swan seeks insight on shores and in scraps of woods and fields-especially on four particular peninsulas: Michigan's upper and lower, Florida, and Washington state's Olympic-and also inside motherhood, which might be the wildest place of all.These are poems about the interconnection of all things, and "knowing things we cannot see". A journey through seasons with a soundtrack of birdsong, Swan's words are incredibly sensory. The reader is made to feel the weight of muddy jeans, the jolt at the tug of a dog's leash, and to see the bright flash of a cardinal's red plumage. Swan's poems remind us that although we all want to make a mark on our world, the smaller the better: stepping into fresh snow, dashing through forests atop dry leaves, laying wet bodies on warm concrete. These quiet interactions with places are as hopeful as they are harmless.Without necessarily tackling the topics head-on, A Fine Canopy evokes the devastation of climate change and the destruction of natural resources. This book engages deeply with the other-than-human to express and investigate alarm, dismay, anger, admiration, adoration in what feels like the end of the world unless we begin to think outside the box. These poems will carry weight with all readers of poetry, especially those who are interested in ecopoetry and connecting with the world around them.

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Black Indian, searing and raw, is Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Alice Walker's The Color Purple meets Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony-only, this isn't fiction. Beautifully rendered and rippling with family dysfunction, secrets, deaths, drunks, and old resentments, Shonda Buchanan's memoir is an inspiring story that explores her family's legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with not just society's ostracization but the consequences of this dual inheritance. Buchanan was raised as a Black woman, who grew up hearing cherished stories of her multi-racial heritage, while simultaneously suffering from everything she (and the rest of her family) didn't know. Tracing the arduous migration of Mixed Bloods, or Free People of Color, from the Southeast to the Midwest, Buchanan tells the story of her Michigan tribe-a comedic yet manically depressed family of fierce women, who were everything from caretakers and cornbread makers to poets and witches, and men who were either ignored, protected, imprisoned, or maimed-and how their lives collided over love, failure, fights, and prayer despite a stacked deck of challenges, including addiction and abuse. Ultimately, Buchanan's nomadic people endured a collective identity crisis after years of constantly straddling two, then three, races. The physical, spiritual, and emotional displacement of American Indians who met and married Mixed or Black slaves and indentured servants at America's early crossroads is where this powerful journey begins. Black Indian doesn't have answers, nor does it aim to represent every American's multi-ethnic experience. Instead, it digs as far down into this one family's history as it can go-sometimes, with a bit of discomfort. But every family has its own truth, and Buchanan's search for hers will resonate in anyone who has wondered ""maybe there's more than what I'm being told.

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In Rachel Gibson's Crazy On You: Lily Darlington's been called crazy in her day-and, yeah, driving her car into her ex-husband's living room probably wasn't the smartest move ever made-but the louse deserved it. Now Lily is happily single, and she's turned it all around. She knows she's a good mom, a homeowner, and a businesswoman, all wrapped up in one good-looking package. A package that police officer Tucker Matthews is dying to unwrap. This ex-military man sure doesn't need another woman in his life. His last girlfriend left him with nothing but memories and a cat named Pinky! But living next door to Lily has been driving him nuts. He dreams about her long blonde hair and even longer legs. And maybe it's time to go a little crazy.and fall in love. In Candis Terry's Home Sweet Home: Lt. Aiden Marshall returns to Sweet, Texas, after facing the devastation of war. With the help of the entire town-and a tail-wagging companion-the woman he's always loved makes her hero's homecoming all the more sweet. In Jennifer Bernard's One Fine Fireman: Kirk, a.k.a. Thor, one of San Gabriel's infamous Bachelor Firemen, certainly lives up to his nickname. He's tall and handsome, with a chiseled body worthy of any Viking god. But he'd give it all up for one glance from her. Sweet, shy Maribel has no idea that Kirk's been pining for her. There's nothing he'd like better than to sweep her off her feet and show her just how exquisite their love could be. But Kirk has a secret, and he won't let anyone get close, least of all the sexiest woman he's ever met. Can a feisty little dog and an even feistier little boy help these star-crossed lovers find the passion they both so richly deserve?

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Generation after generation, people dragooned by government rise up and struggle with the bonds of law and ownership which oppress them, and so it was on Tayside at the end of the 18th century and in the Outer Isles in 1849. From time to time a person of unusual resolve and clarity of mind finds him - or herself thrown up into the vanguard of the rising, to speak and decide and rally. Angus Cameron, a wright from Lochaber, spoke up for the families around Loch Tay who were faced with losing their young men to a Conscription Act in the summer of 1797. Cameron knows how his people have suffered through decades of eviction and military recruitment and is anguished by how little the ordinary people can do against a heartless Establishment which has weapons, powers and privileges. Arrested and outlawed, he survived to live on. King Cameron imagines a later life for him, as husband and father, then again as spokesman for crofters facing eviction on North Uist. These are times of famine, emigration, and the desperate fight with stones and tangle-stems against clearance from the homeland. David Craig writes with power and anger of lives which have few memorials. Past times are not museum-frozen, they are brought near enough to hear and touch and smell. The whole experience of countryfolk as they fish and plant argue and sing, love and bear children are revealed to the reader. Here is an entire class, shown (as it rarely is) in lifelike close-up, during the most testing episodes in its history, enduring the Potato Famine, battling with their bare hands against clearance. It will appeal to everyone with an interest in the Clearances, Scottish history or anyone who appreciates a good read by an expert storyteller. For a fuller appreciation of the story, readers will enjoy its sequel, the acclaimed "The Unbroken Harp".

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This under-documented expedition was a pivotal moment in the annals of polar exploration and was the starting point, in historical terms, of revealing the great unknown continent of Antarctica. It was the first time in nearly 70 years since Captain James Cook had circumnavigated Antarctica, that a Royal Naval voyage of discovery had ventured so far South. They set a new 'furthest south' record in the process beating the one set up by James Weddell in a whaling ship in 1823. The expedition set sail from Greenwich in 1839. It consisted of two wooden sailing ships commanded by Captain James Clark Ross and Commander Francis Crozier. The ships were manned exclusively by Royal Naval personnel and each ship had a complement of 64 men and officers. Their primary task was of a scientific nature to study the Earth's magnetic field and build up a set of results that could provide a greater understanding of the effects of magnetism on compasses and their use in navigating the world's oceans. This voyage had a set of planned targets and all were accomplished. In the process a vast amount of scientific information was collected. Many exotic places were visited during the voyage amongst them Madeira, St Helena, Cape Town, Kerguelen island, New Zealand, Australia and the Falkland Islands but the pinnacle was the discovery of the Ross Sea, The Ross Ice Shelf and the mighty volcanoes of Erebus and Terror (named after the two ships). The crews experienced the dangers of navigating in ice-strewn waters and narrowly escaping being crushed by icebergs. Illness was kept at bay although several lives were lost due to accidents. It would be another 60 years before the scenes of their greatest discoveries were visited again and then the Golden Age of Discovery was ushered in with the likes of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen.

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THE TOP TEN BESTSELLER'Candid, brilliant and bizarre' Guardian'Stories about the frontman and his bandmates are legion ... [like] Peter Kay with menaces' The Sunday TimesAs lead singer of Happy Mondays and Black Grape, Shaun Ryder was the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger of his generation. A true rebel, who formed and led not one but two seminal bands, he's had number-one albums, headlined Glastonbury, toured the world numerous times, taken every drug under the sun, been through rehab - and come out the other side as a national treasure.Now, for the first time, Shaun lifts the lid on the real inside story of how to be a rock star. With insights from three decades touring the world, which took him from Salford to San Francisco, from playing working men's clubs to headlining Glastonbury and playing in front of the biggest festival crowd the world has ever seen, in Brazil, in the middle of thunderstorm. From recording your first demo tape to having a number-one album, Shaun gives a fly-on-the-wall look at the rock 'n' roll lifestyle - warts and all: how to be a rock star - and also how not to be a rock star. From numerous Top of the Pops appearances to being banned from live TV, from being a figurehead of the acid-house scene to hanging out backstage with the Rolling Stones, Shaun has seen it all. In this book he pulls the curtain back on the debauchery of the tour bus, ridiculous riders, run-ins with record companies, drug dealers and the mafia, and how he forged the most remarkable comeback of all time.'There are enough stories about Happy Mondays to keep people talking about them forever. Bands live on through the myth really, myth and legend' (Steve Lamacq)

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Satie's music and ideas are inextricably linked with the City of Light. This book situates Satie's work within the context and sonic environment of contemporary Paris. Erik Satie's (1866-1925) music appeals to wide audiences and has influenced both experimental artists and pop musicians. Little about Satie was conventional, and he resists classification under easy headings such as "classical music". Instead of pursuing the path of a professional composer, Satie initially earned a living as a café pianist and moved in bohemian circles which prized satire, popular culture and experiment. Small wonder that his music is fundamentally new in conception. It is music which is not always designed to be listened to attentively: music which can be machine-like but is to be played by humans. For Satie, music was part of a wider concept of artistic creation,as evidenced by his collaborations with leading avant-garde artists and in works which cross traditional genre boundaries such as his texted piano pieces. His music was created in some of the most exciting and creatively stimulating environments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: Montmartre and Montparnasse. Paris was the artistic centre of Europe, and Satie was a notorious figure whose music and ideas are inextricably linked with the City of Light. This book situates Satie's work within the context and sonic environment of contemporary Paris. It shows that the influence of street music, musicians and poets interested in new technology, contemporary innovations and radical politics are all crucial to an understanding of Satie. Music from the ever-popular Gymnopédies to newly discovered works are discussed, and an online supplement features rare pieces recorded especially for the book. CAROLINE POTTER is Reader in Music at Kingston University London. A graduate in both French and Music, she has published widely on French music since Debussy and was Series Advisor to the Philharmonia Orchestra's Paris2014-15 season.

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These are your elected officials. Some are slyly taking advantage of the system. They are hoping no one is savvy enough to notice. But Matt Lewis has. And this is what he's learned.Today's politicians are an unsavoury lot-a hybrid of plutocrats and hypocrites. And it's worse (and more laughable) than you can imagine. Lewis will introduce you to a crop of latte liberals, ivy league populists, insider traders, trust-fund babies, and swamp creatures as he exposes how truly ludicrous money in politics has gotten.In Filthy Rich Politicians, Lewis embarks on an investigative deep dive into the ridiculous state of modern American democracy-a system where the rich get elected and the elected get rich. One of the brightest conservative writers of his generation, Lewis doesn't just complain: he articulates how Americans can achieve accountability from their elected leaders through radically commonsense reforms. But many of these ruling-class elites have a vested financial interest in rejecting the reforms so desperately needed to rebuild Americans' trust in the institutions that once made our nation great.This is not an "eat the rich" kind of book, and it is not for those who want to stoke class warfare, topple the whole regime, and burn it all to the ground. This is a must-read book for thoughtful readers who yearn for transparency and will commit to holding their elected leaders accountable to those they are supposed to represent-we the people.The reforms spelled out in this book would incentivize good behaviour in our leaders, stymie corruption, and prevent politicians from using the system (and our taxpayer dollars) to feather their filthy rich nests.It is only by taking these steps to reform the system that we can rebuild trust in our institutions and preserve American democracy for future generations. There really is no richer inheritance we could leave them.

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New Critical Nostalgia weighs the future of literary study by reassessing its past. It tracks today's impassioned debates about method back to the discipline’s early professional era, when an unprecedented makeover of American higher education with far-reaching social consequences resulted in what we might call our first crisis of academic life. Rovee probes literary study’s nostalgic attachments to this past, by recasting an essential episode in the historiography of English—the vigorous rejection of romanticism by American New Critics—in the new light of the American university’s tectonic growth. In the process, he demonstrates literary study’s profound investment in romanticism and reveals the romantic lyric’s special affect, nostalgia, as having been part of English’s professional identity all along. New Critical Nostalgia meticulously shows what is lost in reducing mid-century American criticism and the intense, quirky, and unpredictable writings of central figures, such as Cleanth Brooks, Josephine Miles, and W. K. Wimsatt, to a glib monolith of New Critical anti-romanticism. In Rovee’s historically rich account, grounded in analysis of critical texts and enlivened by archival study, readers discover John Crowe Ransom’s and William Wordsworth’s shared existential nostalgia, witness the demolition of the “immature” Percy Shelley in the revolutionary textbook Understanding Poetry, explore the classroom give-and-take prompted by the close reading of John Keats, consider the strange ambivalence toward Lord Byron on the part of formalist critics and romantic scholars alike, and encounter the strikingly contemporary quantitative studies by one of the mid-century’s preeminent poetry scholars, Josephine Miles. These complex and enthralling engagements with the romantic lyric introduce the reader to a dynamic intellectual milieu, in which professionals with varying methodological commitments (from New Critics to computationalists), working in radically different academic locales (from Nashville and New Haven to Baton Rouge and Berkeley), wrangled over what it means to read, with nothing less than the future of the discipline at stake.

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Robert Dance’s new evaluation of Joan Crawford looks at her entire career and—while not ignoring her early years and tempestuous personal life—focuses squarely on her achievements as an actress, and as a woman who mastered the studio system with a rare combination of grit, determination, beauty, and talent.Crawford’s remarkable forty-five-year motion picture career is one of the industry’s longest. Signing her first contract in 1925, she was crowned an MGM star four years later and by the mid-1930s was the most popular actress in America. In the early 1940s, Crawford’s risky decision to move to Warner Bros. was rewarded with an Oscar for Mildred Pierce. This triumph launched a series of film noir classics. In her fourth decade she teamed with rival Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, proving that Crawford, whose career had begun by defining big-screen glamour, had matured into a superb dramatic actress. Her last film was released in 1970, and two years later she made a final television appearance, forty-seven years after walking through the MGM gate for the first time. Crawford made a successful transition into business during her later years, notably in her long association with Pepsi-Cola as a board member and the brand’s leading ambassador. Overlooked in previous biographies has been Crawford’s fierce resolve in creating and then maintaining her star persona. She let neither her age nor the passing of time block her unrivaled ambition, and she continually reimagined herself, noting once that, for the right part, she would play Wally Beery’s grandmother. But she was always the consummate star, and at the time of her death in 1977, she was a motion picture legend and a twentieth-century icon.

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Winner of the 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Book Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions Shows how early 20th-century resistance to conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America that still resonate today When Joseph Nathaniel Beckles registered for the draft in the 1942, he rejected the racial categories presented to him and persuaded the registrar to cross out the check mark she had placed next to Negro and substitute “Ethiopian Hebrew.” “God did not make us Negroes,” declared religious leaders in black communities of the early twentieth-century urban North. They insisted that so-called Negroes are, in reality, Ethiopian Hebrews, Asiatic Muslims, or raceless children of God. Rejecting conventional American racial classification, many black southern migrants and immigrants from the Caribbean embraced these alternative visions of black history, racial identity, and collective future, thereby reshaping the black religious and racial landscape. Focusing on the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement, and a number of congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews, Judith Weisenfeld argues that the appeal of these groups lay not only in the new religious opportunities membership provided, but also in the novel ways they formulated a religio-racial identity. Arguing that members of these groups understood their religious and racial identities as divinely-ordained and inseparable, the book examines how this sense of self shaped their conceptions of their bodies, families, religious and social communities, space and place, and political sensibilities. Weisenfeld draws on extensive archival research and incorporates a rich array of sources to highlight the experiences of average members. The book demonstrates that the efforts by members of these movements to contest conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America about the nature of racial identity and the collective future of black people that still resonate today.

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Abenaki children’s book icon Joseph Bruchac tells the stirring history of the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz by Native Americans, which established a precedent for Indian activismOn November 20, 1969, a group of 89 Native Americans—most of them young activists in their twenties, led by Richard Oakes, LaNada Means, and others—crossed San Francisco Bay under the cover of darkness. They called themselves the “Indians of All Tribes.” Their objective was to occupy the abandoned prison on Alcatraz Island (“The Rock”), a mile and a half across the treacherous waters. Under the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie between the US and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or out-of-use federal land was supposed to be returned to the Indigenous peoples who once occupied it. As Alcatraz penitentiary was closed by that point, activists sought to reclaim that land, and more broadly, bring greater attention to the lies and injustices of the federal government when it came to Indian policy.Their initial success resulted in international attention to Native American rights and the continuing presence of present-day Indigenous peoples, who refused to accept being treated as a “vanishing race.” Over the protestors’ 19-month occupation, one key way of raising awareness to issues in Native life was through Radio Free Alcatraz, which touched on: the forced loss of ancestral lands, contaminated water supply on reservations, sharp disparities in infant mortality and life expectancy among Native Americans compared to statistics in white communities, and many other inequalities. From acclaimed Abenaki children’s book legend Joseph Bruchac, this middle-grade nonfiction book tells the riveting story of that 1969 takeover, which inspired a whole generation of Native activists and ignited the modern American Indian Movement. The Occupation of Alcatraz had a direct effect on federal Indian policy and, with its visible results, established a precedent for Indian activism.

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Cosmic Dance won the 1994 Guyana Prize for Literature.Dr. Vayu Sampat is brought two stories: of the rape of a young girl by a powerful state official, and of a seemingly altruistic gift of blood. The first is an all too common event, the second all too rare in a society where the strong feed off the weak, and everything has its price. What challenges him is that both stories cross the lines of race in a society divided between Indians and Africans.Involvement in these events, against his will, is the catalyst which forces Vayu from a path of comfortable routine into the chaos of uncontrollable circumstance in which all his assumptions are challenged. When the cataclysm comes, Vayu barely escapes with his life, but he at least has a future to confront.Cosmic Dance, set in the authoritarian, post-colonial Caribbean state of Aritya (Guyana in disguise), is a fast-moving, tense and bloody political thriller whose characters draw the reader into the events from page one. It deals acutely with issues of race and gender and the interplay between intention and chance in human affairs.No novel penetrates more deeply the political corruption at the heart of 1980s Guyana, but no Indo-Caribbean novel deals more honestly with the nature and sources of Indian racist feelings towards African-Caribbeans. Whether at the superficial level of 'people like us/people not like us' or at a deeper level of poisonous caste-based antipathies, Khemraj's novel looks at how the rightful search for justice in a climate of interethnic hostility can be undermined from within. The novel also has its subtext an inquiry into the meaningfulness of a Hindu worldview as a way of making sense of the catastrophes the characters experience.Harischandra Khemraj worked as a teacher in Guyana. He won the 1994 Guyana Prize for Literature. He currently lives in the USA.

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Bob Proehl uses the Seven Deadly Sins as a device to understand this classic album.In 1968, the Flying Burrito Brothers released their debut album, "The Gilded Palace of Sin" on A&M Records, selling a disappointing 400,000 copies. Forty years later, the band's front man, Gram Parsons, is still spoken of with an almost messianic reverence. Patron saint of altcountry, emblazoned with a shining cross, dead at twenty six. Overshadowed by the legend of Parsons, this album remains at once an anomaly in the fledgling country-rock genre and a snapshot of a moment in music and culture. Drawing on traditions of black and white southern music, to the country-tonk innovations of the early 70s Stones, and running through the psychedelia and political activism of the California scene, "The Gilded Palace of Sin" deserves to be discussed as something more than part of the Gram Parsons legacy.Bob Proehl's book uses the Seven Deadly Sins as a structuring device to look at an album that plays as fast and loose with its religious images as it does with its genre-borrowing. For example, Gluttony: Well, that's the easy one, isn't it? With the album finished, the Burritos hired a road manager and took off on a tour of the US by train. By his own account, the road manager's job was to get the drugs, hide the drugs and remember where he'd hidden the drugs. By the end of the tour most of the band members required wheelchairs and the creative spark shown on the album seemed to have fizzled under a bevy of drug-addled performances. The gluttony section will also cover Parsons' dismissal from the band by Hillman and the addictions that led to his death."33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 50 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike.

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In this compelling critique Rob Wilson explores the creation of the “Pacific Rim” in the American imagination and how the concept has been variously adapted and resisted in Hawai‘i, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Australia. Reimagining the American Pacific ranges from the nineteenth century to the present and draws on theories of postmodernism, transnationality, and post-Marxist geography to contribute to the ongoing discussion of what constitutes “global” and “local.”Wilson begins by tracing the arrival of American commerce and culture in the Pacific through missionary and imperial forces in the nineteenth century and the parallel development of Asia/Pacific as an idea. Using an impressive range of texts—from works by Herman Melville, James Michener, Maori and Western Samoan novelists, and Bamboo Ridge poets to Baywatch, films and musicals such as South Pacific and Blue Hawaii, and native Hawaiian shark god poetry—Wilson illustrates what it means for a space to be “regionalized.” Claiming that such places become more open to transnational flows of information, labor, finance, media, and global commodities, he explains how they then become isolated, their borders simultaneously crossed and fixed. In the case of Hawai’i, Wilson argues that culturally innovative, risky forms of symbol making and a broader—more global—vision of local plight are needed to counterbalance the racism and increasing imbalance of cultural capital and goods in the emerging postplantation and tourist-centered economy.Reimagining the American Pacific leaves the reader with a new understanding of the complex interactions of global and local economies and cultures in a region that, since the 1970s, has been a leading trading partner of the United States. It is an engaging and provocative contribution to the fields of Asian and American studies, as well as those of cultural studies and theory, literary criticism, and popular culture.

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Personal prayer books and the jottings in their margins tell us about their owners and about life in late medieval and Reformation England In this richly illustrated book, religious historian Eamon Duffy discusses the Book of Hours, unquestionably the most intimate and most widely used book of the later Middle Ages. He examines surviving copies of the personal prayer books which were used for private, domestic devotions, and in which people commonly left traces of their lives. Manuscript prayers, biographical jottings, affectionate messages, autographs, and pious paste-ins often crowd the margins, flyleaves, and blank spaces of such books. From these sometimes clumsy jottings, viewed by generations of librarians and art historians as blemishes at best, vandalism at worst, Duffy teases out precious clues to the private thoughts and public contexts of their owners, and insights into the times in which they lived and prayed. His analysis has a special relevance for the history of women, since women feature very prominently among the identifiable owners and users of the medieval Book of Hours.Books of Hours range from lavish illuminated manuscripts worth a king’s ransom to mass-produced and sparsely illustrated volumes costing a few shillings or pence. Some include customized prayers and pictures requested by the purchaser, and others, handed down from one family member to another, bear the often poignant traces of a family’s history over several generations. Duffy places these volumes in the context of religious and social change, above all the Reformation, discusses their significance to Catholics and Protestants, and describes the controversy they inspired under successive Tudor regimes. He looks closely at several special volumes, including the cherished Book of Hours that Sir Thomas More kept with him in the Tower of London as he awaited execution.

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This book is the first in English to consider women's movements and feminist discourses in twentieth-century Taiwan. Doris T. Chang examines the way in which Taiwanese women in the twentieth century selectively appropriated Western feminist theories to meet their needs in a modernizing Confucian culture. She illustrates the rise and fall of women's movements against the historical backdrop of the island's contested national identities, first vis-à-vis imperial Japan (1895-1945) and later with postwar China (1945-2000).In particular, during periods of soft authoritarianism in the Japanese colonial era and late twentieth century, autonomous women's movements emerged and operated within the political perimeters set by the authoritarian regimes. Women strove to replace the "Good Wife, Wise Mother" ideal with an individualist feminism that meshed social, political, and economic gender equity with the prevailing Confucian family ideology. However, during periods of hard authoritarianism from the 1930s to the 1960s, the autonomous movements collapsed.The particular brand of Taiwanese feminism developed from numerous outside influences, including interactions among an East Asian sociopolitical milieu, various strands of Western feminism, and even Marxist-Leninist women's liberation programs in Soviet Russia. Chinese communism appears not to have played a significant role, due to the Chinese Nationalists' restriction of communication with the mainland during their rule on post-World War II Taiwan.Notably, this study compares the perspectives of Madame Chiang Kai-shek, whose husband led as the president of the Republic of China on Taiwan from 1949 to 1975, and Hsiu-lien Annette Lu, Taiwan's vice president from 2000 to 2008. Delving into period sources such as the highly influential feminist monthly magazine Awakening as well as interviews with feminist leaders, Chang provides a comprehensive historical and cross-cultural analysis of the struggle for gender equality in Taiwan.

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In the United States, African American and Italian cultures have been intertwined for more than a hundred years. From as early as nineteenth-century African American opera star Thomas Bowers "The Colored Mario" all the way to hip-hop entrepreneur Puff Daddy dubbing himself "the Black Sinatra," the affinity between black and Italian cultures runs deep and wide. Once you start looking, you'll find these connections everywhere. Sinatra croons bel canto over the limousine swing of the Count Basie band. Snoop Dogg deftly tosses off the line "I'm Lucky Luciano 'bout to sing soprano." Like the Brooklyn pizzeria and candy store in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever, or the basketball sidelines where Italian American coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari mix it up with their African American players, black/Italian connections are a thing to behold and to investigate. In Flavor and Soul, John Gennari spotlights this affinity, calling it "the edge" now smooth, sometimes serrated between Italian American and African American culture. He argues that the edge is a space of mutual emulation and suspicion, a joyous cultural meeting sometimes darkened by violent collision. Through studies of music and sound, film and media, sports and foodways, Gennari shows how an Afro-Italian sensibility has nourished and vitalized American culture writ large, even as Italian Americans and African Americans have fought each other for urban space, recognition of overlapping histories of suffering and exclusion, and political and personal rispetto. Thus, Flavor and Soul is a cultural contact zone a piazza where people express deep feelings of joy and pleasure, wariness and distrust, amity and enmity. And it is only at such cultural edges, Gennari argues, that America can come to truly understand its racial and ethnic dynamics.

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With employers offering free flu shots and pharmacies expanding into one-stop shops to prevent everything from shingles to tetanus, vaccines are ubiquitous in contemporary life. The past fifty years have witnessed an enormous upsurge in vaccines and immunization in the United States: American children now receive more vaccines than any previous generation, and laws requiring their immunization against a litany of diseases are standard. Yet, while vaccination rates have soared and cases of preventable infections have plummeted, an increasingly vocal cross section of Americans have questioned the safety and necessity of vaccines. In Vaccine Nation, Elena Conis explores this complicated history and its consequences for personal and public health.Vaccine Nation opens in the 1960s, when government scientists-triumphant following successes combating polio and smallpox-considered how the country might deploy new vaccines against what they called the "milder" diseases, including measles, mumps, and rubella. In the years that followed, Conis reveals, vaccines fundamentally changed how medical professionals, policy administrators, and ordinary Americans came to perceive the diseases they were designed to prevent. She brings this history up to the present with an insightful look at the past decade's controversy over the implementation of the Gardasil vaccine for HPV, which sparked extensive debate because of its focus on adolescent girls and young women. Through this and other examples, Conis demonstrates how the acceptance of vaccines and vaccination policies has been as contingent on political and social concerns as on scientific findings. By setting the complex story of American vaccination within the country's broader history, Vaccine Nation goes beyond the simple story of the triumph of science over disease and provides a new and perceptive account of the role of politics and social forces in medicine.

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Artists today are at a crossroads. With funding for the arts and humanities endowments perpetually under attack, and school districts all over the United States scrapping their art curricula altogether, the place of the arts in our civic future is uncertain to say the least. At the same time, faced with the problems of the modern world—from water shortages and grave health concerns to global climate change and the now constant threat of terrorism—one might question the urgency of this waning support for the arts. In the politically fraught world we live in, is the “felt” experience even something worth fighting for? In this soul-searching collection of vignettes, Patrick Summers gives us an adamant, impassioned affirmative. Art, he argues, nurtures freedom of thought, and is more necessary now than ever before. As artistic director of the Houston Grand Opera, Summers is well positioned to take stock of the limitations of the professional arts world—a world where the conversation revolves almost entirely around financial questions and whose reputation tends toward elitism—and to remind us of art’s fundamental relationship to joy and meaning. Offering a vehement defense of long-form arts in a world with a short attention span, Summers argues that art is spiritual, and that music in particular has the ability to ask spiritual questions, to inspire cathartic pathos, and to express spiritual truths. Summers guides us through his personal encounters with art and music in disparate places, from Houston’s Rothko Chapel to a music classroom in rural China, and reflects on musical works he has conducted all over the world. Assessing the growing canon of new operas performed in American opera houses today, he calls for musical artists to be innovative and brave as opera continues to reinvent itself. This book is a moving credo elucidating Summers’s belief that the arts, especially music, help us to understand our own humanity as intellectual, aesthetic, and ultimately spiritual.

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The new blockbuster thriller from Graham Hurley, The Blood of Others is part of the SPOILS OF WAR Collection, a thrilling, beguiling blend of fact and fiction born of some of the most tragic, suspenseful, and action-packed events of World War II. Dieppe, August 1942. A catastrophe no headline dared admit. Plans are underway for the boldest raid yet on Nazi-occupied France. Over six thousand men will storm ashore to take the port of Dieppe. Lives will change in an instant – both on the beaches and in distant capitals. Annie Wrenne, working at Lord Mountbatten’s cloak-and-dagger Combined Operations headquarters, is privy to the top secret plans for the daring cross-Channel raid. Young Canadian journalist George Hogan, protege of influential Lord Beaverbrook, faces a crucial assignment that will test him to breaking point. And Abwehr intelligence officer Wilhelm Schultz is baiting a trap to lure thousands of Allied troops to their deaths… Three lives linked by Operation Jubilee: the Dieppe Raid, 19 August 1942. Over six thousand men will storm the heavily defended French beaches. Less than half of them will make it back alive. The blockbuster SPOILS OF WAR non-chronological collection features compelling recurring characters whose fragmented lives mirror the war that shattered the globe. For fans of Philip Kerr and Robert Harris. What reviewers are saying about The Blood of Others: 'Hurley’s depiction of the period is as enticing as ever.' The Times 'A masterful and fascinating historical thriller. ' LoveReading ‘There is far more to this novel than sheer military action, though that is, as usual, superbly done… Historical fiction of the highest order.’ Mike Ripley, Shots Reviews for Graham Hurley: 'Tense, absorbing and faultlessly plotted' Sunday Times 'Beautifully constructed... This is one of Hurley's finest' Daily Mail 'Capable and understated characterization' Publishers Weekly

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'As page-turning as a novel' Joanna TrollopeOne summer of nearly a hundred years ago saw one of the high sunlit meadows of English history. A new king was crowned; audiences swarmed to Covent Garden to see the Ballet Russes and Nijinskys gravity-defying leaps. The aristocracy was at play, bounding from house party to the next; the socialite Lady Michelham travelled with her nineteen yards of pearls. Rupert Brooke (a 23-year-old poet in love with love, Keats, marrons glaces and truth) swam in the river at Grantchester. But perfection was over-reaching itself. The rumble of thunder from the summer's storms presaged not only the bloody war years ahead: the country was brought to near standstill by industrial strikes, and unrest exposed the chasm between privileged and poor; as if the heat was torturing those imprisoned in society's straitjacket and stifled by the city smog. Children, seeking relief from the scorching sun, drowned in village ponds. What the protagonists could not have known is that they were playing out the backdrop to WWI; in a few years time the world, let alone England, would never be the same again. Through the eyes of a series of exceptional individuals; a debutante, a suffragette, a politician, a trade unionist, a butler and the Queen; Juliet Nicolson illuminates a turning point in history. With the gifts of a great storyteller she rekindles a vision of a time when the sun shone but its shadows fell on all.'Juliet Nicolson has taken this 'perfect summer' as the backdrop for an ambitious work of multiple biography, which sets the extravagance of the upper classes against the increasingly desperate lives of the poor' Observer'Evoke[s] the full vivid richness of how it smelt, looked, sounded, tasted and felt to be alive in England during the months of such a summer' Lady

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This exhibition catalogue provides insight into the spectacular conservation of this masterpiece from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. The Crucified Thief fragment, by the "Master of Flémalle", shines in new splendour. The book documents the spectacular results of the restoration, and describes and comprehensively contextualises the painting. This book is the catalogue for an exhibition in 2017-18 at the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung in Frankfurt. The exhibition highlights a single painting, the Master of Flémalle’s The Crucified Thief, a key work of European art history, created by one of the most enigmatic artists of early Dutch painting. The recently restored fragment of the painting, painted on both sides, is the only surviving part of a large-format triptych of the Descent from the Cross, which was one of the most important and influential works of its time. In addition to the results of the technological investigation and restoration of the painting, thirteen selected works of art are presented, including the eponymous "Flémaller Panels", the "Medici Madonna" by Rogier van der Weyden as well as mounted and unmounted sculptures by the Master of the Rimini Altarpiece and Hans Multscher. They exemplify the reciprocal references between painting and sculpture and thus contribute to a deeper understanding of the breathtaking detail realism and the suggestive effect of the altarpiece on the contemporary viewer. The gruesome picture of a crucified man, which was once the top half of the right wing of a monumental altarpiece the rest of which has long been lost without trace. That Deposition Triptych from around 1430¬ is considered a founding work of early Dutch painting, comparable to the Ghent Altarpiece. The exhibition catalogue provides insight into the spectacular conservation of this masterpiece from the Städel Museum, reconstructs the original appearance of the lost ensemble with the aid of copies, and explains the context of its creation by means of international loans and gems of the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung.

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Does modern economic theory violate some basic, fundamental laws of physics? That is the question that award-winning environmental and energy writer Nathanial Gronewold sets out to answer in Anthill Economics. Gronewold points out that the modern school of economics is missing a significant piece of the puzzle: energy. And not just oil, or natural gas or wind power, but rather the fundamental importance of energy in transforming matter into food, shelter, and material possessions. Ecologists have been using the principles of biophysics –population density, energy return on investment, and habitation patterns –to study ecosystems for centuries. But what if those same principles hold the key to the global human economy? After all, at its core, the global economy is simply humanity’s ecosystem.Anthill Economics puts forth an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach, asserting that biophysical laws are just as fundamental to the global economy as they are to zoology and entomology. The rollercoaster-like rise and fall of caribou population on a remote island can teach us about resource allocation and global inequality. The behavior of squirrels gathering nuts is a lesson in economic energy return on investment and wage stagnation. Could human traffic patterns mimic the daily pulse of ants in the forests marching in and out of their own central business districts? And, will global warming change these patterns for humans and insects alike? This clearly written book full of illuminating ecological analogies gives readers an informed and entertaining introduction to the cutting-edge field of biophysical economics –also known as thermoeconomics –that seeks to provide a more complete understanding of the global economy. The result is a radical new way of looking at the world and how the laws of physics and nature can be used to more precisely understand human demographics, population patterns, and economics.

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In Saint Louis, it is the summer of 1920 and the day is the Sabbath, but there is little rest for the Jews from Krimsk and less reverence for the wondrous Krimsker Rebbe, who led them to the New World seventeen years before. The rebbe's former hasidim have embraced America to discover that the vision of "gold in the streets" evokes larceny in the heart. Matti Sternweiss, the ungainly, studious child wonder in Krimsk, now the cerebral catcher for the St. Louis Browns, is scheming to fix Saturday's game against the pennant-contending Detroit Tigers. It is an American Sabbath: Prohibition, bookies, the criminal syndicate, the Hiberian fellowship of the police brass, hometown blondes, a bootlegging rabbi, and big league baseball. It is also Krimsk in America: Boruch Levi, the successful junkman, confiscates his zany, crippled brother-in-law Barasch's sizable bets; Barasch's lusty wife, Malka, has her own connubial reasons for wanting to stop the gambling; the chief of police fatefully inspires his loyal disciple, Boruch Levi, to bring Matti before the Krimsker Rebbe on the Sabbath in order to preserve the purity of the national pastime. Recluse and wonder-worker, messianist and pragmatist, the Krimsker Rebbe navigates the muddy Mississippi River, haunted by a recurring prophetic vision of Pharaoh's blood-red Nile. In the final, decisive innings, with Matti crouched behind home plate, it will come down to Ty Cobb versus the kabbalah. Richly imagined, populated with robust, complex characters, Big League Dreams is a profoundly original, inspiring, and comic creation. It is the second volume in the series Small Worlds, which follows the people of Krimsk and their descendants in America, Russia, Poland, and Israel. In each volume Allen Hoffman draws on his deep knowledge of Jewish religion and history to evoke the finite yet infinite "small worlds" his characters inhabit.

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Peterson's Writing Successful College Applications offers outstanding suggestions and detailed expert advice to help students create a college application package that will help them stand out from a crowd of competitive candidates. ‘It’s more than just the essay.’ This guide reviews all the components of a successful college application process in an honest and engaging way. This new book offers proven strategies to help students craft a successful essay or personal statement, with tips and insights to guide them through the writing process. There are over 50 sample personal statements from successful students plus bonus information on how to write strong activity and academic paragraphs to highlight your leadership and teamwork skills. The guide provides advice and writing tips on the all-important "Why This School" paragraph to emphasize the student’s interest. Interviews with Deans of Admission offer valuable information on what colleges are really looking for in an admission essay. Often, it’s not what you think. Be unique and bright - but also have a great story that will make you memorable. If the Dean is still thinking about your personal statement two days later, it achieved its purpose. Today's multiple college applications involve writing more than just one long essay. The myriad required paragraphs and supplemental statements demand skill, finesse, tenacity, and patience. Peterson's Writing Successful College Applications reminds the reader that what defines the application are the little details like: biographical information GPA and transcript standardized tests strong letters of recommendation extracurricular and volunteer activities on a resume A writing project or art or music portfolio add to the memorability factor, if the student has talent or writing skills to showcase. The advice about writing an essay that only this student could write is excellent. Be unique and tell your own story. But remember - ‘It’s more than just the essay.’

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The revised edition of the bestselling textbook, covering both classical and molecular plant breeding Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding integrates theory and practice to provide an insightful examination of the fundamental principles and advanced techniques of modern plant breeding. Combining both classical and molecular tools, this comprehensive textbook describes the multidisciplinary strategies used to produce new varieties of crops and plants, particularly in response to the increasing demands to of growing populations. Illustrated chapters cover a wide range of topics, including plant reproductive systems, germplasm for breeding, molecular breeding, the common objectives of plant breeders, marketing and societal issues, and more. Now in its third edition, this essential textbook contains extensively revised content that reflects recent advances and current practices. Substantial updates have been made to its molecular genetics and breeding sections, including discussions of new breeding techniques such as zinc finger nuclease, oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis, RNA-dependent DNA methylation, reverse breeding, genome editing, and others. A new table enables efficient comparison of an expanded list of molecular markers, including Allozyme, RFLPs, RAPD, SSR, ISSR, DAMD, AFLP, SNPs and ESTs. Also, new and updated “Industry Highlights” sections provide examples of the practical application of plant breeding methods to real-world problems. This new edition: Organizes topics to reflect the stages of an actual breeding project Incorporates the most recent technologies in the field, such as CRSPR genome edition and grafting on GM stock Includes numerous illustrations and end-of-chapter self-assessment questions, key references, suggested readings, and links to relevant websites Features a companion website containing additional artwork and instructor resources Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding offers researchers and professionals an invaluable resource and remains the ideal textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduates in plant science, particularly those studying plant breeding, biotechnology, and genetics.

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