Search results for ""author bruce grant""

Thruxton has been described as "the UK's Speedbowl." The circuit is home to the prestigious British Automobile Racing Club, and during the period covered by this book the author was editor of the club's magazine. As a result, he was able to get behind the scenes at many of the events, including F2, British Touring Cars, Aurora AFX F1, and club races. In the 1980s Thruxton featured in the early careers of many Formula One drivers, and the book records the early performances of such luminaries as Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Derek Warwick, Alan McNish, Mike Thackwell, Mika Hakkinen, and many more. Featuring many previously unpublished photographs from the author's personal collection, this is an insightful account of racing at one of the fastest motor racing circuits in the UK.

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The Caucasus region of Eurasia, wedged in between the Black and Caspian Seas, encompasses the modern territories of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as the troubled republic of Chechnya in southern Russia. A site of invasion, conquest, and resistance since the onset of historical record, it has earned a reputation for fearsome violence and isolated mountain redoubts closed to outsiders. Over extended efforts to control the Caucasus area, Russians have long mythologized stories of their countrymen taken captive by bands of mountain brigands. In The Captive and the Gift, the anthropologist Bruce Grant explores the long relationship between Russia and the Caucasus and the means by which sovereignty has been exercised in this contested area. Taking his lead from Aleksandr Pushkin's 1822 poem "Prisoner of the Caucasus," Grant explores the extraordinary resonances of the themes of violence, captivity, and empire in the Caucasus through mythology, poetry, short stories, ballet, opera, and film. Grant argues that while the recurring Russian captivity narrative reflected a wide range of political positions, it most often and compellingly suggested a vision of Caucasus peoples as thankless, lawless subjects of empire who were unwilling to acknowledge and accept the gifts of civilization and protection extended by Russian leaders. Drawing on years of field and archival research, Grant moves beyond myth and mass culture to suggest how real-life Caucasus practices of exchange, by contrast, aimed to control and diminish rather than unleash and increase violence. The result is a historical anthropology of sovereign forms that underscores how enduring popular narratives and close readings of ritual practices can shed light on the management of pluralism in long-fraught world areas.

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At the outset of the twentieth century, the Nivkhi of Sakhalin Island were a small population of fishermen under Russian dominion and an Asian cultural sway. The turbulence of the decades that followed would transform them dramatically. While Russian missionaries hounded them for their pagan ways, Lenin praised them; while Stalin routed them in purges, Khrushchev gave them respite; and while Brezhnev organized complex resettlement campaigns, Gorbachev pronounced that they were free to resume a traditional life. But what is tradition after seven decades of building a Soviet world? Based on years of research in the former Soviet Union, Bruce Grant's book draws upon Nivkh interviews, newly opened archives, and rarely translated Soviet ethnographic texts to examine the effects of this remarkable state venture in the construction of identity. With a keen sensitivity, Grant explores the often paradoxical participation by Nivkhi in these shifting waves of Sovietization and poses questions about how cultural identity is constituted and reconstituted, restructured and dismantled. Part chronicle of modernization, part saga of memory and forgetting, In the Soviet House of Culture is an interpretive ethnography of one people's attempts to recapture the past as they look toward the future. This is a book that will appeal to anthropologists and historians alike, as well as to anyone who is interested in the people and politics of the former Soviet Union.

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Written by a man who made a lifelong study of leather craft and rawhide work, How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear is the answer to many requests for how-to-do-it information from cowboys, horsemen in “show†business, dude ranchers, and many other people interested in riding horses and their gear. Bridles, hackamores, reins, reatas, quirts, and riding crops are among the articles of gear that can be made using this well-illustrated book as a guide. Most of the pieces described here are made of rawhide; however, leather thongs and plastic string can be worked in the same manner. Clear and detailed drawings show from beginning to end how to make the articles of gear the horseman uses to “work or show” his horse to best advantage.

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For over four decades, Leather Braiding has reigned as the authoritative book in its realm. Grant’s meticulously crafted manual unveils the intricate world of leather braiding with unparalleled clarity, offering an abundance of richly detailed illustrations, meticulous step-by-step instructions, and a treasure trove of captivating insights. Embracing both practical and leisurely pursuits, this literary masterpiece demystifies leather craftsmanship, empowering even the most-inexperienced enthusiasts to fashion an array of utilitarian and ornamental wonders. From the ingenious braided button to the awe-inspiring masterpieces of thong appliqué, the book showcases a vast array of techniques suitable for novices and experts alike. Delving deeper, it presents a captivating historical panorama of leather’s enduring significance in society, explores the indispensable tools of the trade in a dedicated chapter, and provides an indispensable glossary of terms to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. With its profound depth and comprehensive scope, Leather Braiding remains an indispensable companion for anyone seeking mastery in this age-old art form.

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Emergency situations can occur without warning and in any condition - day or night, in fine or inclement weather. This book shows you what to do in the event of an accident, whatever the severity. Practical roadside first aid basics are addressed, as are the practical and legal obligations for all those who may be involved, and explanations of what the emergency services will do, and why. Other situations addressed include how to avoid problems as a lone driver, as well as situations such as car-jacking. Finally, car parks, and their own specific security problems, are discussed.

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The Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding is the definitive work on the subject and results from the late Bruce Grant’s many years of interest and experience as a braider and writer on the subject. It combines most of the material published in Leather Braiding and How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear with a mass of completely new material. The book’s more than 350 illustrations are arranged so that the step-by-step instructions face the picture being described, making it very easy to follow. While the book is primarily for those interested in leathercraft, in nearly all cases the methods of braiding are applicable to many other materials, such as silk, cotton, plastic, catgut, or horsehair. Braidwork takes many forms, and its applications are practical as well as decorative. The combination of beauty and utility lends itself to an array of items—personal gear or clothing, working or show gear for a horse, decoration of plain, carved, or tooled leather work. Truly a book to be used as well as read, Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding provides all the information needed for this satisfying pastime.

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Letters recording the reactions of ordinary Russians to the Revolution as events unfolded in 1917, an account of the day-to-day scramble to make a living after the end of the Soviet Union, and excerpts from a sixteenth-century manual instructing elite Muscovites on proper household management—The Russia Reader brings these and many other selections together in this introduction to the history, culture, and politics of the world’s largest country, from the earliest written accounts of the Russian people to today. Conveying the texture of everyday life alongside experiences of epic historical events, the book is filled with the voices of men and women, rulers and revolutionaries, peasants, soldiers, literary figures, émigrés, journalists, and scholars. Most of the selections are by Russians, and thirty are translated into English for the first time. Illustrated with maps, paintings, photographs, posters, and cartoons, The Russia Reader incorporates song lyrics, jokes, anecdotes, and folktales, as well as poems, essays, and fiction by writers including Akhmatova, Dostoyevsky, Pushkin, and Tolstoi. Transcripts from the show trials of major Party figures and an account of how staff at the Lenin Library in Moscow were instructed to interact with foreigners are among the many selections based on personal memoirs and archival materials only recently made available to the public. From a tenth-century emissary’s description of his encounters in Kyivan Rus’, to a scientist’s recollections of her life in a new research city built from scratch in Siberia during the 1950s, to a novelist’s depiction of the decadence of the “New Russians” in the 2000s, The Russia Reader is an extraordinary introduction to a vast and varied country.

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