Search results for ""author lawrence""

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE covers the history of British expansion overseas from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Narrative and analysis are interwoven with revealing eyewitness quotation to provide keen insight into the minds of those involved in conquering, settling and ruling the greatest Empire the world has seen. Throughout, there are consistant themes; the search for profit and the moral misgivings it generated; domestic developments which made imperial expansion desirable; and the sense of national and personal destiny felt by the empire-builders. Spanning four centuries and six continents, James' magnificent survey examines the imperial experience and its legacy with tremendous verve. Informed, comprehensive and perceptive, it is the essential summary of the era. 'James' epic is not only a first-rate narrative, but also a penetrating portrait of the British...Having largely, if often inadvertently, selfishly or ham-fistedly, engineered the world we live in, we need the courage now to face up to our record as coolly and intelligently as Lawrence James has done' - John Spurling, TLS

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From independence in 1965, Singapore has experienced a meteoric rise to a modern developed city-state. What is less known is the part played by its foreign policy or by the men and women who contributed to its implementation and success. Here, several of Singapore's senior diplomats and Ambassadors tell in their own words, how they did their work, their experiences, their achievements and the challenges that they faced in promoting and safeguarding Singapore's strategic security and economic interests.

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Here are all of Ferlinghetti's poems set in the city he has lived in for over half a century. He brings alive, with wit and lyricism, scenes of city life: a Giants baseball game, the Green Street Marching Mortuary Band, bohemian North Beach, Golden Gate Park, yachts on the Bay, and more. Also included are historic photographs, scattered prose pieces, and the text of his mischievous inaugural address with his vision of the city's history as a poetic center and suggestions for keeping it that way. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is a bookman, painter and author of poetry, fiction, essays and plays. His most recent books are How to Paint Sunlight (poetry) and Love in the Days of Rage (fiction).

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This book illustrates the contribution made to New Zealand letters by our oldest and most prestigious literary fellowship. Edited and introduced by Professor Lawrence Jones, the anthology, by turns playful and serious, celebrates the Fellowship's golden jubilee. Beginning with novelist Ian Cross in 1959 and ending with the 2008 Burns Fellow, poet Sue Wootton, Nurse to the Imagination showcases the output of leading New Zealand literary figures such as James K. Baxter, Michael King and Janet Frame alongside newer voices, with pieces written at the time of the Fellow's tenure. There are lots of interesting trends here, of which the shift from male-dominated literature up to 1980 to the rich representation of women writers since then is just one.

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This case study of an innovative and alternative model of community economic development describes a unique project that shows how building and renovating housing can greatly improve the social, economic, and political life of an inner city neighborhood. Using the North End Housing Project (NEHP) in Winnipeg as its focus, the strategy of housing as the centerpiece for community economic development is thoroughly assessed. The NEHP began in one of the lowest-income locales in the city buying, renovating, renting, and selling residences, providing affordable shelter and increasing the nearby housing values. This model proved to be a catalyst for jobs, an economic base, and a foundation of social capital-neighborliness and community organization-in the neighborhood.

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Censorship and book burning are still present in our lives. Lawrence Hill shares his experiences of how ignorance and the fear of ideas led a group in the Netherlands to burn the cover of his widely successful novel, The Book of Negroes, in 2011. Why do books continue to ignite such strong reactions in people in the age of the Internet? Is banning, censoring, or controlling book distribution ever justified? Hill illustrates his ideas with anecdotes and lists names of Canadian writers who faced censorship challenges in the twenty-first century, inviting conversation between those on opposite sides of these contentious issues. All who are interested in literature, freedom of expression, and human rights will enjoy reading Hill's provocative essay.

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The year is 1982 in Lawrence Osgood's Midnight Sun and the isolated village of Poniktuk (population 156) exists by and for itself in the central Arctic, virtually undisturbed by intrusions of the outside world. Free of television, telephones, and other modern conveniences, the only real communications come to the village by the almost weekly mail delivered by the "sched," the scheduled flight that originates in Inuvik and touches down at other villages on its way to Poniktuk. The quiet little village becomes troubled when a white man steps off the sched and stirs up talks of land rights with Simon Umingmak, long-time chairman of the Poniktuk settlement council. Tensions rise as Simon and his 18-year-old nephew, Nate, square off on the delicate issue. When a white woman, the lone survivor of wilderness canoe trip, is rescued by the head of the Hunters' Association and brought to Poniktuk, a teenage girl, fascinated by the stranger, nearly dead from hunger and exposure, starts a cult around her striped tuque. Then, Aningan, the spirit of the moon, intervenes unexpectedly, a herd of caribou surrounds the village, and Sedna, the spirit under the sea, returns to the world where she left it. In one long bright night, spirits and humans collide with horrific consequences. An intense portrait of Inuit life intertwined with the rich mystical folklore of the north, Midnight Sun is a powerful first novel by Lawrence Osgood. An original work of fiction by a writer steeped in the mystical culture of the north, Midnight Sun is one of the first works of Canadian fiction to examine and encompass the Arctic's three crucial elements: the landscape, its people and their legends, an enthralling combination sure to thrill and captivate literary fiction and fantasy fans alike.

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Discover the daring aviation pioneers who made the dream of powered flight a reality, forever changing the course of history. Aviator Lincoln Beachey broke countless records: he looped-the-loop, flew upside down and in corkscrews, and was the first to pull his aircraft out of what was a typically fatal tailspin. As Beachey and other aviators took to the skies in death-defying acts in the early twentieth century, these innovative daredevils not only wowed crowds, but also redefined the frontiers of powered flight.Higher, Steeper, Faster takes readers inside the world of the brave men and women who popularized flying through their deadly stunts and paved the way for modern aviation. With heart-stopping accounts of the action-packed race to conquer the skies, plus photographs and fascinating archival documents, this book will exhilarate readers as they fly through the pages.

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The AQA Geography for A Level & AS Human Geography Revision Guide is the most student-friendly resource for the 2016 AQA A Level and AS Level Geography specifications - written to help students to consolidate key knowledge for every topic. Accessible, clear and thorough, this revision guide engages all your students. Each Human Geography section is condensed into interesting, relevant single- or double-page examples. Clearly written objective open each section, setting out for students what they need to revise, using high-quality photos, maps and diagrams to aid retention of key geographical processes and information. Motivating revision activities and a focus on the exam requirements reinforce the rigorous approach.

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We may think of churches, mosques, synagogues and temples as ordered places for organized religion. But what happens when the congregation moves away? Or when shifting borders or persecution mean that people can no longer reach them? And, in the absence of humankind, what happens when nature’s unceasing efforts invade the hallowed walls? Abandoned Sacred Places is a brilliant pictorial exploration of both ancient and modern temples, synagogues, churches, mosques and stone circles that have been left behind. From the mysteries around Stonehenge in England and Carnac in France constructed thousands of years ago to crumbling inner cities churches and synagogues in present-day Detroit and Chicago, from ancient Roman temples to Mayan pyramids in Mexico, and from Hindu temples lost in the Indian jungle to Buddhist shrines in the Chinese desert, the book shows what happens when humanity retreats and nature is allowed to reclaim the land. With 200 outstanding colour photographs exploring hauntingly beautiful locations, Abandoned Sacred Places is a moving examination of more than 100 lost worlds.

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It doesn't require a strong imagination to get a sense of the mayhem Trump will unleash if he loses a closely contested election. It is no less disturbing to imagine Trump still insisting that he is the rightful leader of the nation. With millions of diehard supporters firmly believing that their revered president has been toppled by malignant forces of the Deep State, Trump could remain a force of constitutional chaos for years to come. WILL TRUMP GO? addresses such questions as:How might Trump engineer his refusal to acknowledge electoral defeat? What legal and extra-legal paths could he pursue in mobilizing a challenge to the electoral outcome?What legal, political, institutional and popular mechanisms can be used to stop him?What would be the fallout of a failure to remove him from office? What would be the fallout of a successful effort to unseat him?Can our democracy snap back from Trump?Trump himself has essentially told the nation he will never accept electoral defeat. A book that prepares us for Trump's refusal to concede, then, is hardly speculative; it is a necessary precaution against a coming crisis.

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In this book, Lawrence Sklar demonstrates the interdependence of science and philosophy by examining a number of crucial problems on the nature of space and time - problems that require for their resolution the resources of philosophy and of physics. The overall issues explored are our knowledge of the geometry of the world, the existence of spacetime as an entity over and above the material objects of the world, the relation between temporal order and causal order, and the problem of the direction of time. Without neglecting the most subtle philosophical points or the most advanced contributions of contemporary physics, the author has taken pains to make his explorations intelligible to the reader with no advanced training in physics, mathematics, or philosophy. The arguments are set forth step-by-step, beginning from first principles; and, the philosophical discussions are supplemented in detail by nontechnical expositions of crucial features of physical theories.

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The AQA Geography for A Level & AS Physical Geography Revision Guide is the most student-friendly resource for the 2016 AQA A Level and AS Level Geography specifications - written to help students to consolidate key knowledge for every topic. Accessible, clear and thorough, this revision guide engages all your students. Each Physical Geography section is condensed into interesting, relevant single- or double-page examples. Clearly written objective open each section, setting out for students what they need to revise, using high-quality photos, maps and diagrams to aid retention of key geographical processes and information. Motivating revision activities and a focus on the exam requirements reinforce the rigorous approach.

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THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING BESTSELLER, NOW AN ACCLAIMED TV SERIESThis is the definitive account of the run-up to 9/11: from the man who lit the spark of radical Islam in 1948, to those who built up a terror network, and to the FBI agent whose warnings of 'something big' coming were ignored until the Twin Towers fell.'The Looming Tower is a thriller. And it's a tragedy, too' The New York Times'The most detailed (and thrilling) account we have of the events that led to the destruction of the Twin Towers' Observer, Books of the Year'Possibly the best book yet written on the rise of al-Qaeda ... beautifully written and wonderfully compelling' William Dalrymple'We meet some formidable schemers and killers ... fabulists crazed with blood and death' Martin Amis

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Wealthy dead American. Beautiful young widow. This case has PI Philip Marlowe’s name written all over it. Is it enough to bring him back for one last adventure?The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is living out his retirement sipping margaritas and playing cards when in saunter two men dressed like undertakers with a case that has his name written all over it. His mission is to investigate Donald Zinn – supposedly drowned off his yacht, leaving a much younger and now very rich wife. Marlowe’s speciality. But is Zinn actually alive? And are the pair living off the spoils? 'Osborne and Chandler are a perfect match' William BoydDiscover the rest of the inimitable Philip Marlowe series – nine classic Chandler adventures, from The Big Sleep to The Long Goodbye, available now in paperback and ebook from Penguin Books.

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The best intentions can be deadlyDuring a white-hot summer on the idyllic Greek island of Hydra, two girls fall into one another’s lives to devastating effect. When Samantha, a young, impressionable American, meets Naomi, a Brit with a taste for danger, their relationship quickly takes on a special intensity. Amid the sun, sea and high society of island life, their imaginations are sparked when one day they find a young Arab man, Faoud, washed up on shore, a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean. But when their seemingly simple plan to help the stranger goes wrong, all must face the horrific consequences they have set in motion.

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A DEADLY VIRUS. QUARANTINE. A WORLD IN LOCKDOWN. THE THRILLER THAT PREDICTED IT ALL. THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'Flies thrillingly, eerily close to reality' Guardian'This page-turner... is riveting and spookily anticipates much that has unfolded in reality' Sunday TimesA race-against-time thriller, as one man must find the origin and cure for a new killer virus that has brought the world to its knees.At an internment camp in Indonesia, forty-seven people are pronounced dead with a mysterious fever. When Dr Henry Parsons - microbiologist and epidemiologist - travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization to investigate, what he finds will soon have staggering repercussions across the globe.As international tensions rise and governments enforce unprecedented measures, Henry finds himself in a race against time to track the source and find a cure - before it's too late . . .***WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:'If you have a desire to really understand what is going on in the world right now, this is a novel that you cannot afford to miss!''Well-written and fast-paced. Most of all utterly, scarily, believable.'

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A tense, stunningly well-observed heist novel from 'the bastard child of Graham Greene and Patrica Highsmith' (Metro)Sarah Talbot Jennings, a young American living in New York, has fled to Bangkok to disappear. Armed with a suitcase full of cash, she takes up residence at the Kingdom, a glittering complex slowly sinking into its own twilight. There, against a backdrop of shadowy gossip and intrigue, she is soon drawn into the orbit of the Kingdom's glamorous ex-pat women. But when political chaos and a frenzied uprising wrack the streets below, and Sarah witnesses something unspeakable, her safe haven begins to feel like a trap. From a master of atmosphere and suspense comes a brilliantly unsettling story of cruelty and psychological unrest, and an enthralling glimpse into the shadowy crossroads of karma and human greed.

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This is the second volume of Lawrence Paterson's detailed account of all the Luftwaffe's naval operations during World War II. The first volume took the story up to 1942, and by the end of that year Hermann G ring's Reich Air Ministry had subsumed nearly every aspect of Wehrmacht maritime aviation. Kriegsmarine attempts to develop an independent Fleet Air Arm had been perpetually frustrated, reflecting the chaotic nature of the Third Reich's internal military and political mechanics. Driven more by vanity than operational prudence, the Luftwaffe had continually thwarted the advancement of maritime aviation, and by 1942 began to reap the whirlwind it had created. The U-boat war hung precariously in the balance, the lack of well trained and properly equipped aerial reconnaissance suddenly assuming greater importance than ever before. During 1943 the nature of Germany's war mutated and by its close the Allies were on the offensive in nearly all theatres. This volume resumes the story with Operation Torch in November 1942, when Germany faced an Allied seaborne invasion of North Africa that it was ill-equipped to counter by land, sea or air; and the spectre of even greater invasion armadas loomed on both the southern and western fronts during the months that followed. Facing the Russians, maritime air units were stripped to the bone, those precious few formations available shunted rapidly between military crisis points until barely able to function. The rise of Luftwaffe maritime operations described in the author's first volume now became, from 1942 onwards, a fall of catastrophic proportions as frequently undertrained crews flew increasingly obsolete aircraft against odds that had become overwhelming. The Luftwaffe was paying the price for its pre-war lack of cohesive strategic planning, none more so than its beleaguered maritime specialists. The author covers this story across all the theatres of the war and in doing so gives the reader a complete and coherent picture of all the Luftwaffe's naval operations. Heavily illustrated throughout, this detailed and exciting narrative will be of huge appeal to both naval and aviation historians and enthusiasts.

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This study of the Kriegsmarine's Sicherungsstreitkr fte, their security forces, fills a glaring gap in the study of the German navy in World War Two. This wide array of vessels included patrol boats, minesweepers, submarine hunters, barrage breakers, landing craft, minelayers and even the riverine flotilla that patrolled the Danube as it snaked towards the Black Sea. These vessels may not have provided the glamour associated with capital ships and U-boats, but they were crucial to the survival of the Kriegsmarine at every stage of hostilities. As naval construction was unable to keep pace with the likely demand for security vessels, Grossadmiral Erich Raeder turned to the conversion of merchant vessels. For example, trawlers were requisitioned as patrol boats (Vorpostenboote) and minesweepers (Minensucher), while freighters, designated Sperrbrecher, were filled with buoyant materials and sent to clear minefields. Submarine hunters (U-Boot J ger) were requisitioned fishing vessels.More than 120 flotillas operated in wildly different conditions, from the Arctic to the Mediterranean, and 81 men were to be awarded the Knights Cross; some were still operating after the cessation of hostilities clearing German minefields. The author deals with whole subject at every level, documenting organisational changes, describing the vessels, and recounting individual actions of ships at sea, while extensive appendices round off this major new work.

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Ten powerful pieces first published in The New Yorker recall the path terror in the Middle East has taken from the rise of al-Qaeda in the 1990s to the recent beheadings of reporters and aid workers by ISIS. With the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright became generally acknowledged as one of our major journalists writing on terrorism in the Middle East. This collection draws on several articles he wrote while researching that book as well as many that he's written since, following where and how al-Qaeda and its core cult-like beliefs have morphed and spread. They include an indelible impression of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of silence under the control of the religious police; the Syrian film industry, then compliant at the edges but already exuding a feeling of the barely masked fury that erupted into civil war; the 2006-11 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, a study in disparate values of human lives. Others continue to look into al-Qaeda as it forms a master plan for its future, experiences a rebellion from within the organization, and spins off a growing web of terror in the world. The American response is covered in profiles of two FBI agents and a chief of the CIA. It ends with the recent devastating piece about the capture and beheading by ISIS of four American journalists and aid workers, and how the US government failed to handle the situation.

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The latest - brilliant - Matt Scudder novel from award-winning Lawrence BlockMatt Scudder - former cop and alcoholic - has had enough. He plans to wind up his investigations and concentrate on AA meetings and his lovely wife, Elaine. But he agrees to take one last case. Louise, a single woman, has finally met a man she likes, but she fears he's keeping something from her and so hires Matt to check him out. But before Matt can track down the real identity of Louise's lover, a horrific murder is committed - and the only forensic evidence links the killer to Elaine. Matt is convinced that the killer is an old foe of his, a man who terrorised and murdered his way through New York until Matt stood in his way. And now he's stalking Elaine...

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From the author of A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES - set to be a major Hollywood film - comes the third novel in the Matt Scudder series.When hard-drinking ex-cop Matt Scudder is roped into an NYPD internal investigation, one detective ends up in the slammer on a murder charge.Jerry seems as clean as the world would like him to be, but Scudder isn't too sure. After all, Jerry was only too keen to dish the dirt on his former colleagues as a way of saving his own skin...The third novel in the explosive Matt Scudder series from a master of the crime thriller genre.

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From NEW YORK TIMES bestseller Lawrence Block.In Manhattan thirty-one men have been meeting annually for years. Their private club meets only to record the passage of time and give toast to the joys of life. But suddenly they are dying at an alarming rate and one of their number begins to suspect that something more than bad luck is at work.For private eye Matt Scudder, the case is one of the most baffling he's faced. Can the deaths really be a bizarre series of suicides and violent accidents? Or is there is a pattern behind the random play of tragedy? Is there a murderer at work and can he be stopped before the victims run out?

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An addictive Matt Scudder thriller.Matt Scudder is drawn into the case of a serial killer targeting criminals who the law cannot touch. The Will of the People, egged on by a vitriolic newspaper columnist, kills a sex offender, a mobster and a racist cult leader, despite their seemingly impenetrable security. Then Scudder gets a call from a hot-shot attorney, the recipient of the Will's latest letter...

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'A virtuoso feat ... a book of panoramic breadth' New York Times Book Review'A devastating analysis ... Wright is a master of knitting together complex narratives' The ObserverJust as Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower became the defining account of our century's first devastating event, 9/11, so The Plague Year will become the defining account of the second.The story starts with the initial moments of Covid's appearance in Wuhan and ends with Joseph Biden's inauguration in an America ravaged by well over 400,000 deaths - a mortality already some ten times worse than US combat deaths in the entire Vietnam War.This is an anguished, furious memorial to a year in which all of America's great strengths - its scientific knowledge, its great civic and intellectual institutions, its spirit of voluntarism and community - were brought low, not by a terrifying new illness alone, but by political incompetence and cynicism on a scale for which there has been no precedent.With insight, sympathy, clarity and rage, The Plague Year allows the reader to see the unfolding of this great tragedy, talking with individuals on the front line, bringing together many moving and surprising stories and painting a devastating picture of a country literally and fatally misled.'Maddening and sobering - as comprehensive an account of the first year of the pandemic as we've yet seen' Kirkus

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*Large-format hardback edition* The 158th edition of the most famous sports book in the world – published every year since 1864 – contains some of the world’s finest sports writing, and reflects on an unprecedented year dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Writers include Lawrence Booth, Sir Garfield Sobers, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Gideon Haigh, Andy Zaltzman, Tom Holland, Duncan Hamilton, Robert Winder, Matthew Engel, Scyld Berry, Derek Pringle, Jack Leach and James Anderson. As usual, Wisden includes the eagerly awaited Notes by the Editor, the Cricketers of the Year awards, and the famous obituaries. And, as ever, there are reports and scorecards for every Test, together with forthright opinion, compelling features and comprehensive records. "There can't really be any doubt about the cricket book of the year, any year: it's obviously Wisden" Andrew Baker in The Daily Telegraph @WisdenAlmanack

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It is a book of three parts: comment; record; and delightful minutiae, which always brings the most cheer. - Mike Atherton, The Times The publication of Wisden is cricket’s equivalent of the state opening of Parliament. It’s another great edition. - Oborne and Heller on Cricket podcast The pages are stacked full of information, quirks and great analysis of the game, as well as being a wonderful record. - Alison Mitchell, BBC World Service Stumped *Standard hardback edition* The 160th edition of the most famous sports book in the world – published every year since 1864 – contains some of the world’s finest sports writing. It reflects on the extraordinary life of Shane Warne, who died far too early in 2022, and looks back at another legendary bowler, S. F. Barnes, on the 150th anniversary of his birth. Wisden also reports on England’s triumph at the T20 World Cup, to go alongside their 2019 ODI success, and on their Test team’s thrilling rejuvenation under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes. Writers include Lawrence Booth, Gideon Haigh, James Holland, Jonathan Liew, Emma John, David Frith, Simon Wilde, Jon Hotten, Robert Winder, Tanya Aldred and Neil Harvey, the last survivor from Australia’s famous 1948 Ashes tour of England. As usual, Wisden includes the eagerly awaited Notes by the Editor, the Cricketers of the Year awards, and the obituaries. And, as ever, there are reports and scorecards for every Test, together with forthright opinion, compelling features and comprehensive records. "There can't really be any doubt about the cricket book of the year, any year: it's obviously Wisden" Andrew Baker in The Daily Telegraph @WisdenAlmanack

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A user-friendly presentation of the essential concepts and tools for calculating real costs and profits in personal finance Understanding the Mathematics of Personal Finance explains how mathematics, a simple calculator, and basic computer spreadsheets can be used to break down and understand even the most complex loan structures. In an easy-to-follow style, the book clearly explains the workings of basic financial calculations, captures the concepts behind loans and interest in a step-by-step manner, and details how these steps can be implemented for practical purposes. Rather than simply providing investment and borrowing strategies, the author successfully equips readers with the skills needed to make accurate and effective decisions in all aspects of personal finance ventures, including mortgages, annuities, life insurance, and credit card debt. The book begins with a primer on mathematics, covering the basics of arithmetic operations and notations, and pro

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Transformar el mundo a través de la amabilidad es posible. Solo requiere poner un poco de atención en esos pequeños detalles cotidianos que moldean nuestro carácter.

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In 1852, after much searching through the Black districts of Petersburg, Virginia, the amateur historian Charles Campbell finally located Isaac Granger, a formerly enslaved man who worked for the late Thomas Jefferson. Though disinterested at first in sharing his memories, Isaac was at last persuaded to tell the full story of his time in Philadelphia as a young man in the early 1790s. It was supposed to have been a simple story: he would apprentice with a Quaker tinsmith and then return to Monticello to produce tinware for sale in such abundance that Jefferson might pay down his plantation's crippling debts. But Isaac was impressionable and more thoughtful than Jefferson knew. Philadelphia was a big city, home to a thriving African-American community, and Isaac met all manner of characters: Billey Gardner, a formerly enslaved man who worked for James Madison; the dangerous and charismatic Dr. Cornelius Sharp; the Reverent Rich Allen; the hateful Daniel Shady, who could not abide that Isaac should learn tinsmithing at his side as an equal; the tinsmith's daughter, Rachel, who taught Isaac to read. Isaac got himself into difficulties, contemplated his place in the world, and was challenged to do more than just serve. Conflict was inevitable.

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The religious map of India is notoriously complex; not only are there indigenous traditions in great variety, but imported faiths such as Islam and Christianity have been added to the mix. Lawrence A. Babb helps the non-specialist navigate this variety. He provides an account of the subcontinent’s principal religions, focusing on how they began, what they teach, what they have become, and how religion fits in modern India’s national life. The book assumes no previous knowledge of Indian institutions or history, and is designed to give readers a big picture, leaving the fine points to the more specialized books. The perspective of the book is historical, tracing India’s religious evolution from the Indus-Valley period (c. 2600-1900 BCE) to the present. With the Indus Valley civilization as its starting point, the author covers the development of Vedic religion, the emergence of dissenting traditions, Buddhism and Jainism, the development of Hinduism and the coming of Islam to the subcontinent. The book’s concluding chapters deal with the impact of colonialism on Indian religions, the role of religion in the independence struggle, and the riddle of religion’s place in the Republic of India’s national identity. This textbook is designed to be used in university-level courses dealing with India and South Asian studies. It will also appeal to a general readership interested in South Asia and to travellers visiting the region.

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Today’s insurance regulation in the United States is at a crossroads: while some segments of the insurance industry are moving away from a state-based approach toward regulation, others favor a greater role for the federal government—despite the opposition from other stakeholders. Written by leading scholars in risk management, this book addresses some of the most important questions facing the future of state and federal regulation of the insurance industry. Examining not only the impetus behind various reform proposals, but also the historical development of insurance regulation in the United States, it discusses alternative regulatory frameworks used in the United States and in the European Union and, thereby, increases the options that reformers may wish to consider.

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A collection of humorous, sentimental and instructive stories about both prominent and relatively unknown Jewish personalities from biblical times to the present. The anecdotes were selected to reveal characteristics of Jewish life and Jewish history. Arranged alphabetically by personality, the subjects includes Moses, Job, Rabbi Akiva, Hillel, and Maimonides, as well as Sholom Aleichem, Theodor Herzl, and even Harpo Marx.

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When Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, immigration and refugee policy was among the unresolved matters that he inherited from his predecessor, Jimmy Carter. Over three decades later, it remains largely unresolved, due not only to the men who would inhabit the White House, but to interest groups and members of Congress, many of them Catholic, on all sides of the issue.Carter appointed a Catholic priest, University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, to chair the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. The commission’s report, released in the early days of the Reagan Administration, helped produce the Immigration Reform and Control Act, signed by Reagan in 1986. Since it offered amnesty to those who were in the country illegally, Catholic immigration advocates, led by the American bishops, applauded the law as consistent with the church’s sacred mission and proud history of compassion toward strangers.These Catholics were also on the same side as the White House when George H. W. Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, which raised the ceiling for legal immigration; when George W. Bush in 2006 and BarackObama in 2013 supported comprehensive immigration bills which passed the Senate; and when Obama granted temporary residence to the foreign-born children of undocumented immigrants in 2012. But they challenged the restrictive 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act signed by Bill Clinton; the interior enforcement efforts of George W. Bush and Barack Obama; and the border control and refugee policies undertaken by all presidents from Reagan to Obama.Rather than helping to overcome the growing political divide over immigration in the country and the church, Catholics on the outer edges of the issue contributed to it. By eschewing compromise in favor of confrontation, Catholic legislators from both parties too often helped prevent Congress from giving the presidents, and the public, most of what they wanted on immigration reform. By forsaking political reality in the name of religious purity, Catholic immigration advocates frequently antagonized the presidents whose goals they largely shared, and ultimately disappointed the immigrants they so badly wanted to help.

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Each person faces unique challenges when trying to lose weight. As director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D., and his team of experts have had remarkable success in helping thousands of individuals develop successful plans of action. Each plan contains the crucial ingredients for healthy success: an attainable goal, an appealing diet, and a practical program of physical activity. Based on the latest research in medicine, psychology, nutrition, and exercise physiology, the Personal Plan of Action offers a unique approach that recognizes the different reasons people gain weight-and why they have trouble losing that weight and keeping it off. The advantages of an expertly designed Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center plan are available to those who want to lose weight on their own. Losing Weight for Good: Developing Your Personal Plan of Action helps you assess your own reasons for weight gain. With this knowledge, you can design your own personal step-by-step program for weight loss based on the approach that has been so successful at the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center. This individualized approach takes into account personal differences in such areas as emotional makeup, lifestyle, family circumstances, coping style, physical health, and economic means. Unlike typical diet books that offer simplistic or formulaic recommendations for weight loss, Losing Weight for Good tells you how to develop and follow a plan that meets your own specific needs. As you read through the book, you will establish your own weight loss goals, dietary aims, and exercise schedule, while building critical skills to help you cope with temptation, frustration, and anything else that interferes with your goal. "The basic message is this: You do not need to change everything about yourself and your life to lose weight and keep it off. You do need to identify your specific problem areas and find creative, individualized solutions."-Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D.

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Celebrating African America’s contribution to our great national pastime, this comprehensive, lively history combines vivid narrative, visual impact, and a unique statistical component, to recreate the excitement and passion of the Negro Leagues.

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