Search results for ""author sam"

A fascinating study of how behavioral science shaped twentieth-century politics and the modernist literary period.The advent of the twentieth century famously brought about new personal and political freedoms, including radical changes in voting rights and expressions of gender and sexuality. Yet writers and cultural critics shared a sense that modern life reduced citizens to automatons capable of interacting with the world in only the most reflexive ways. In Automatic, Timothy Wientzen asks why modernists were deeply anxious about the role of reflexive behaviors—and the susceptibility of bodies to physical stimuli—in the new political structures of the twentieth century. Engaging with historical thinking about human behaviors that fundamentally changed the nature of political and literary practice, Wientzen demonstrates the ways in which a "politics of reflex" came to shape the intellectual and cultural life of the modernist era. Documenting some of the ways that modernist writers and their contemporaries mapped, harnessed, and intervened in a political sphere dominated by conditioned reflexes, Wientzen reads writers like D. H. Lawrence, Rebecca West, Wyndham Lewis, and Samuel Beckett in conversation with fields that include public relations, physiology, sociology, and vitalism. Ultimately, he justifies a reckoning with some of the most enduring preoccupations of modernist studies.Automatic further emphasizes the role of politics and science in the aesthetic projects of modernist writers. At a moment when political enfranchisement and the mass media promised new modes of freedom, agency, and choice, Wientzen argues that the modernist era was beset by apprehension about the conscription of liberty through the conditioning force of everyday life. Analyzing such thinking through a neglected archive about embodiment and reflex reveals modernists responding to the historically novel conditions of political life in the twentieth century—conditions that have become entrenched in the politics of our own century.

Read more less

How sales representatives from Big Pharma and other healthcare companies circumvent public and regulatory scrutiny by forging relationships with nurses.Awarded second place in the 2019 AJN Book of the Year Award in the Professional Issues Category by the American Journal of NursingIt was once common for pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers to treat doctors to lavish vacations or give them new cars; companies would do virtually anything to buy influence so that their medications or devices would be used in a doctor’s office or hospital. But with growing public scrutiny of kickbacks to doctors, the huge giveaways have disappeared. In Infiltrating Healthcare, Quinn Grundy shows that sales representatives are working instead behind the scenes. It is to nurses that these companies now market. Nurses, Grundy argues, are the perfect target for sales reps: their work is largely invisible and frequently undervalued, yet they wield a great deal of influence over treatment and purchasing decisions. Furthermore, there are no legal restrictions on marketing to most nurses. Grundy describes how, under the guise of education or product support, and through gifts and free samples, sales representatives influence nurses in the course of day-to-day clinical practice. Grundy argues that the very presence of sales reps in operating rooms, purchasing committee meetings, and patient care units blurs the boundaries between patient care and medical sales. Helpfully, she also describes ways that nurses can be aware of (and resistant to) their influence. Infiltrating Healthcare is a call to action to protect the clinical spaces where we are at our most vulnerable—and the decisions that take place there—from the pursuit of profit at any cost. This is a timely book that shines a light on a practice that often goes unseen, and which has tangible implications for healthcare policy and practice.

Read more less

Eight years ago, tragedy struck. Eight years ago, Lucy Michaels’ life changed forever. But under the surface of her small town lies a secret that could pull her under.No one expected it to rain that much. But the rain kept coming, the dam broke, and lives were lost. Including five-year-old Clay Michaels, who was swept away in the floodwaters. Clay’s sister, Lucy, has never forgiven herself for her little brother’s death. She was supposed to hold on to him, to keep him from harm during that terrible night. She was supposed to protect him.Now eight years later, seventeen-year-old Lucy is focused on two things: making the US Olympic air rifle team and protect­ing everyone in her life from any type of trauma. However, with graduation and the Olympics on the horizon, her world is once again shaken when tragedy strikes Grand Junction, and Lucy is right back in the middle of it.Two of her closest friends have been hunted down in the nature preserve adjoining the town—the same plot of land where her younger brother died—and the fingers of suspicion are pointing everywhere in the community. The prime suspect? Lucy’s ex-boyfriend. The more Lucy uncovers about the secrets of those around her, the more she realizes that she, too, is a target—and that now is the time to face her past if she wants to have a future.Last Girl Breathing is a page-turning hunt for the truth as Court Stevens once again creates nonstop suspense with characters who will break your heart. A stand-alone young adult thriller Perfect for fans of We Were Liars and The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Book length: 76,000 words Includes discussion questions

Read more less

In recent years, a number of books in the field of literacy research have addressed the experiences of literacy users or the multiple processes of learning literacy skills in a rapidly changing technological environment. In contrast to these studies, this book addresses the subjects of literacy. In other words, it is about how literacy workers are subjected to the relations between new forms of labor and the concept of human capital as a dominant economic structure in the United States. It is about how literacies become forms of value producing labor in everyday life both within and beyond the workplace itself. As Evan Watkins shows, apprehending the meaning of literacy work requires an understanding of how literacies have changed in relation to not only technology but also to labor, capital, and economics. The emergence of new literacies has produced considerable debate over basic definitions as well as the complexities of gain and loss. At the same time, the visibility of these debates between advocates of old versus new literacies has obscured the development of more fundamental changes. Most significantly, Watkins argues, it is no longer possible to represent human capital solely as the kind of long-term resource that Gary Becker and other neoclassical economists have defined. Like corporate inventory and business management practices, human capital—labor—now also appears in a “just-in-time” form, as if a power of action on the occasion rather than a capital asset in reserve. Just-in-time human capital valorizes the expansion of choice, but it depends absolutely on the invisible literacy work consigned to the peripheries of concentrated human capital. In an economy wherein peoples’ attention begins to eclipse information as a primary commodity, a small number of choices appear with an immensely magnified intensity while most others disappear entirely. As Literacy Work in the Reign of Human Capital deftly illustrates, the concentration of human labor in the digital age reinforces and extends a class division of winners on the inside of technological innovation and losers everywhere else.

Read more less

Not Even Past highlights references to nineteenth-century U.S. slavery and anti-Black racism in literary and photographic projects begun during the late 1920s and early 1930s, including novels by William Faulkner and Nella Larsen, and portraits by Carl Van Vechten. These texts share a representational crisis, in which distinctions between present, quotidian racism and a massive, fully racialized historical trauma disappear. All identify persistent historical traumatization with intense subjective states (including madness, religious ecstasy, narcissism, and fetishistic enjoyment), and each explores the conservative, even coercive social character of such links between psyche and history. When the past of enslavement is "not even past," narration freezes, black and white women lose their capacity to question or resist social and domestic violence, and racial politics fail. Anticipating contemporary trauma studies by decades, these disparate modernists' works constitute not an expounded or avowed but an interstitial trauma theory, which finds its shape in the spaces left by conventional public discourse. Their works parallel important essays by psychoanalytic thinkers of the same era, including Joan Riviere, Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein, and Walter Benjamin, and their joint explication of relationships among psyche, history, and race offers important resources for psychoanalytic approaches to racial difference today. Despite their analytic acuity, however, Faulkner, Larsen, and Van Vechten also themselves carry the traumatic past forward into the future. Indeed, the two novelists' tragic depictions of a triumphant color line and the photographer's insistence on an idiom of black primitivism lent support to white supremacy in the twentieth century. Yet even in their very failure, three U.S. modernists tell us that it is not enough simply to exercise critical acuity on the marks of past violence. Reading, however masterly, cannot interrupt a history in the midst of repeating itself; it can only itself reiterate the disaster.

Read more less

In its seventeenth-century heyday, the English broadside ballad was a single large sheet of paper printed on one side with multiple woodcut illustrations, a popular tune title, and a poem. Inexpensive, ubiquitous, and fugitive—individual elements migrated freely from one broadside to another—some 11,000 to 12,000 of these artifacts pre-1701 survive, though many others have undoubtedly been lost. Since 2003, Patricia Fumerton and a team of associates at the University of California, Santa Barbara have been finding, digitizing, cataloging, and recording these materials to create the English Broadside Ballad Archive. In this magisterial and long-awaited volume, Fumerton presents a rich display of the fruits of this work. She tracks the fragmentary assembling and disassembling of two unique extant editions of one broadside ballad and examines the loose network of seventeenth-century ballad collectors who archived what were essentially ephemeral productions. She pays particular attention to Samuel Pepys, who collected and bound into five volumes more than 1,800 ballads, and whose preoccupations with black-letter print, gender, and politics are reflected in and extend beyond his collecting practices. Offering an extensive and expansive reading of an extremely popular and sensational ballad that was printed at least 37 times before 1701, Fumerton highlights the ballad genre's ability to move audiences across time and space. In a concluding chapter, she looks to Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale to analyze the performative potential ballads have in comparison with staged drama. A broadside ballad cannot be "read" without reading it in relation to its images and its tune, Fumerton argues. To that end, The Broadside Ballad in Early Modern England features more than 80 illustrations and directs its readers to a specially constructed online archive where they can easily access 48 audio files of ballad music.

Read more less

This volume contains eight contributions aimed to advance policy analysis using the European tax-benefit micro-simulation model, EUROMOD. Microsimulation allows computing the whole set of taxes and benefits of a country and the resulting budget constraint for each household of a representative dataset. Thus, it can be used to evaluate how existing fiscal policies alter inequality, poverty and the overall income distribution. In addition, the simulation of financial incentives considerably improves the econometric estimations of labor supply behaviors, fertility choices, and marital decisions, thereby allowing better prediction to policy changes. EUROMOD goes once step further in the process of helping policy design: based on homogenized datasets and harmonized definitions of tax-benefit instruments, it allows to perform comprehensive international comparisons of EU-15 countries and to evaluate the optimality of tax-benefit policies. For instance, one can assess the effect of a common reform in particular institutional settings or the transmission of a tax-benefit system from one country to another. After an introductory chapter that present the history and the scope of the EUROMOD project, seven chapters on different policy issues follow. Among the discussed themes are: the relevance of the British tax credit to encourage female employment in continental Europe, the impact of hypothetical child benefits on child poverty in Southern Europe, the variety of effects of the same standard pension reform once implemented in different European countries, the role of the fiscal drag as an automatic stabilizer and its effect on labor costs, the revelation of social preferences from actual implicit tax rates. It aims to advance policy analysis using the European Tax-benefit Model. It evaluates how existing fiscal policies alter inequality, poverty and the overall income distribution. It investigates how financial incentives considerably improve the econometric estimations of labor supply behaviors, fertility and matrial choices.

Read more less

The 2010 general election caught many by surprise as it swept away the old certainties of two-party politics. But, as Stephen Driver shows in this new book, multi-party politics had already established itself as a feature of contemporary British political life. In recent years, both Labour and the Conservatives lost their iron grip on the electorate and the Liberal Democrats emerged as a significant and credible third party force across the country. In local, devolved and European elections, smaller parties from across the ideological spectrum have been adding to the political mix. This fluid and uncertain political scene provides a unique moment to explore the dynamics of UK political parties and the key challenges facing them as they grapple with the changing shape of politics in 21st century Britain. Key questions explored in this book include: How far have Labour and the Conservatives escaped from the shadow of Thatcherism? What turned the Liberal Democrats from a party of protest to a party of power? To what extent have green and far-right politics entered the political mainstream? What impact, if any, has devolution had on party lines across the UK? Moreover, at a time when trust in politics has hit an all time low, political parties are facing a crisis in confidence. Membership of mainstream parties has melted away, while support for pressure groups in areas such as the environment and human rights has grown. At the same time, parties rely on hired professionals to win support among the growing number of independently-minded voters. In understanding how political parties have become much more aggressive, professionally-driven organizations, this book points to real concerns about their capacity to engage and mobilise an increasingly critical and disenchanted electorate. British politics needs strong parties, but to regain voters' trust, they need to change.

Read more less

Breaking with the exoticizing cast of public discourse and conventional research, Urban Outcasts takes the reader inside the black ghetto of Chicago and the deindustrializing banlieue of Paris to discover that urban marginality is not everywhere the same. Drawing on a wealth of original field, survey and historical data, Loïc Wacquant shows that the involution of America's urban core after the 1960s is due not to the emergence of an 'underclass', but to the joint withdrawal of market and state fostered by public policies of racial separation and urban abandonment. In European cities, by contrast, the spread of districts of 'exclusion' does not herald the formation of ghettos. It stems from the decomposition of working-class territories under the press of mass unemployment, the casualization of work and the ethnic mixing of populations hitherto segregated, spawning urban formations akin to 'anti-ghettos'. Comparing the US 'Black Belt' with the French 'Red Belt' demonstrates that state structures and policies play a decisive role in the articulation of class, race and place on both sides of the Atlantic. It also reveals the crystallization of a new regime of marginality fuelled by the fragmentation of wage labour, the retrenchment of the social state and the concentration of dispossessed categories in stigmatized areas bereft of a collective idiom of identity and claims-making. These defamed districts are not just the residual 'sinkholes' of a bygone economic era, but also the incubators of the precarious proletariat emerging under neoliberal capitalism. Urban Outcasts sheds new light on the explosive mix of mounting misery, stupendous affluence and festering street violence resurging in the big cities of the First World. By specifying the different causal paths and experiential forms assumed by relegation in the American and the French metropolis, this book offers indispensable tools for rethinking urban marginality and for reinvigorating the public debate over social inequality and citizenship at century's dawn.

Read more less

"In the Greek romances," writes David Konstan, "sighs, tears, and suicide attempts are as characteristic of the male as of the female in distress; ruses, disguises, and outright violence in defense of one's chastity are as much the part of the female as of the male." Exploring how erotic love is represented in ancient amatory literature, Konstan points to the symmetry in the passion of the hero and heroine as a unique feature of the Greek novel: they fall mutually in love, they are of approximately the same age and social class, and their reciprocal attachment ends in marriage. He shows how the plots of the novels are perfectly adapted to expressing this symmetry and how, because of their structure, they differ from classical epic, elegy, comedy, tragedy, and other genres, including modern novels ranging from Sidney to Harlequin romances. Using works like Chaereas and Callirhoe and Daphnis and Chloe, Konstan examines such issues as pederasty, the role of eros in both marital and nonmarital love, and the ancient Greek concept of fidelity. He reveals how the novelistic formula of sexual symmetry reverses the pattern of all other ancient genres, where erotic desire appears one-sided and unequal and is often viewed as either a weakness or an aggressive, conquering power. Konstan's approach draws upon theories concerning the nature of sexuality in the ancient world, reflected in the work of Michel Foucault, David Halperin, and John Winkler. Originally published in 1993. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Read more less

A richly illustrated history of self-taught artists and how they changed American artArtists without formal training, who learned from family, community, and personal journeys, have long been a presence in American art. But it wasn’t until the 1980s, with the help of trailblazing advocates, that the collective force of their creative vision and bold self-definition permanently changed the mainstream art world. In We Are Made of Stories, Leslie Umberger traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, they redefined who could be rightfully seen as an artist and revealed a much more diverse community of American makers.Lavishly illustrated throughout, We Are Made of Stories features more than one hundred drawings, paintings, and sculptures, ranging from the narrative to the abstract, by forty-three artists—including James Castle, Thornton Dial, William Edmondson, Howard Finster, Bessie Harvey, Dan Miller, Sister Gertrude Morgan, the Philadelphia Wireman, Nellie Mae Rowe, Judith Scott, and Bill Traylor. The book centralizes the personal stories behind the art, and explores enduring themes, including self-definition, cultural heritage, struggle and joy, and inequity and achievement. At the same time, it offers a sweeping history of self-taught artists, the critical debates surrounding their art, and how museums have gradually diversified their collections across lines of race, gender, class, and ability.Recasting American art history to embrace artists who have been excluded for too long, We Are Made of Stories vividly captures the power of art to show us the world through the eyes of another.Published in association with the Smithsonian American Art MuseumExhibition ScheduleSmithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DCJuly 1, 2022–March 26, 2023

Read more less

An in-depth look at how employers today perceive and evaluate job applicants with nonstandard or precarious employment historiesMillions of workers today labor in nontraditional situations involving part-time work, temporary agency employment, and skills underutilization or face the precariousness of long-term unemployment. To date, research has largely focused on how these experiences shape workers’ well-being, rather than how hiring agents perceive and treat job applicants who have moved through these positions. Shifting the focus from workers to hiring agents, Making the Cut explores how key gatekeepers—HR managers, recruiters, and talent acquisition specialists—evaluate workers with nonstandard, mismatched, or precarious employment experience. Factoring in the social groups to which workers belong—such as their race and gender—David Pedulla shows how workers get jobs, how the hiring process unfolds, who makes the cut, and who does not.Drawing on a field experiment examining hiring decisions in four occupational groups and in-depth interviews with hiring agents in the United States, Pedulla documents and unpacks three important discoveries. Hiring professionals extract distinct meanings from different types of employment experiences; the effects of nonstandard, mismatched, and precarious employment histories for workers’ job outcomes are not all the same; and the race and gender of workers intersect with their employment histories to shape which workers get called back for jobs. Indeed, hiring professionals use group-based stereotypes to weave divergent narratives or “stratified stories” about workers with similar employment experiences. The result is a complex set of inequalities in the labor market.Looking at bias and discrimination, social exclusion in the workplace, and the changing nature of work, Making the Cut probes the hiring process and offers a clearer picture of the underpinnings of getting a job in the new economy.

Read more less

Almanac is a collection of lyrical and narrative poems that celebrate, and mourn the passing of, the world of the small family farm. But while the poems are all involved in some way with the rural Midwest, particularly with the people and land of the northwestern Illinois dairy farm where Austin Smith was born and raised, they are anything but merely regional. As the poems reflect on farm life, they open out to speak about childhood and death, the loss of tradition, the destruction of the natural world, and the severing of connections between people and the land. This collection also reflects on a long poetic apprenticeship. Smith's father is a poet himself, and Almanac is in part a meditation about the responsibility of the poet, especially the young poet, when it falls to him to speak for what is vanishing. To quote another Illinois poet, Thomas James, Smith has attempted in this book to write poems "clear as the glass of wine / on [his] father's table every Christmas Eve." By turns exhilarating and disquieting, this is a remarkable debut from a distinctive new voice in American poetry. ______ From Almanac: THE MUMMY IN THE FREEPORT ART MUSEUM Austin Smith Amongst the masterpieces of the small-town Picassos and Van Goghs and photographs of the rural poor and busts of dead Greeks or the molds of busts donated by the Art Institute of Chicago to this dying town's little museum, there was a mummy, a real mummy, laid out in a dim-lit room by himself. I used to go to the museum just to visit him, a pharaoh who, expecting an afterlife of beautiful virgins and infinite food and all the riches and jewels he'd enjoyed in earthly life, must have wondered how the hell he'd ended up in Freeport, Illinois. And I used to go alone into that room and stand beside his sarcophagus and say, "My friend, I've asked myself the same thing."

Read more less

The story of our Universe, from its beginning in the first milliseconds of the Big Bang right up to our present moment and beyond, told in a gripping narrative. We have entered a new age of exploration and discovery, enabling us to probe ever more distant reaches of space and greatly advance our knowledge of the Universe. Today, telescopes peer not only into outer space, but also into the deep past. Paul Murdin takes us on an original and breathtaking journey across the lifetime of the Universe, from the first milliseconds of the Big Bang right up to our present moment and even beyond. Murdin draws on the latest discoveries in astronomy to describe the most important characters and events in the life of our Universe: the most powerful explosions, the most curious planets, and the most spectacular celestial bodies. He charts our developing understanding of the cosmos, showing how thinkers have deduced profound truths from even the simplest observations – everyone can see that it is dark at night, but only recently have we understood this as proof that the Universe has not been the same forever. Since then, the Universe has grown up from childhood: astronomers have tracked it as it passed through maturity and as it now moves into middle age. Murdin shows how our own lives were seeded from the Big Bang, galaxies, stars and planets. He considers some of the key questions: how did structures like galaxies and ourselves emerge from the dense maelstrom of the Universe’s birth? How did the ‘dark matter’ that we can’t even see speed up the development of galaxies, and how does ‘dark energy’ work to speed up the expansion of the Universe? Why hasn’t the Universe collapsed in on itself – and will it one day? And finally, he offers a glimpse into the future old age of our Universe, and what it means for us all.

Read more less

The verb "declutter" has not yet made it into the Oxford English Dictionary, but its ever-increasing usage suggests that it's only a matter of time. Articles containing tips and tricks on how to get organized cover magazine pages and pop up in TV programs and commercials, while clutter professionals and specialists referred to as "clutterologists" are just a phone call away. Everywhere the sentiment is the same: clutter is bad. In The Hoarders, Scott Herring provides an in-depth examination of how modern hoarders came into being, from their onset in the late 1930s to the present day. He finds that both the idea of organization and the role of the clutterologist are deeply ingrained in our culture, and that there is a fine line between clutter and deviance in America. Herring introduces us to Jill, whose countertops are piled high with decaying food and whose cabinets are overrun with purchases, while the fly strips hanging from her ceiling are arguably more fly than strip. When Jill spots a decomposing pumpkin about to be jettisoned, she stops, seeing in the rotting, squalid vegetable a special treasure. "I've never seen one quite like this before," she says, and looks to see if any seeds remain. It is from moments like these that Herring builds his questions: What counts as an acceptable material life - and who decides? Is hoarding some sort of inherent deviation of the mind, or a recent historical phenomenon grounded in changing material cultures? Herring opts for the latter, explaining that hoarders attract attention not because they are mentally ill but because they challenge normal modes of material relations. Piled high with detailed and, at times, disturbing descriptions of uncleanliness, The Hoarders delivers a sweeping and fascinating history of hoarding that will cause us all to reconsider how we view these accumulators of clutter.

Read more less

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR What is the nature of things? Must I think my own way through the world? What is justice? How can I be me? How should we treat each other? Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests, in a life ruled by imagined metaphysical monsters. 2,500 years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbour-cities, that way of thinking began to change. Men (and some women) decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own worrying and thinking minds to the conundrums of life. These great innovators shaped the beginnings of philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus in Ephesus was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. In Lesbos, the Aegean island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the early lyric poets asked themselves ‘How can I be true to myself?’ In Samos, Pythagoras imagined an everlasting soul and took his ideas to Italy where they flowered again in surprising and radical forms. Prize-winning and bestselling writer Adam Nicolson travels through this transforming world and asks what light these ancient thinkers can throw on our deepest preconceptions. Sparkling with maps, photographs and artwork, How to Be is a journey into the origins of Western thought. Hugely formative ideas emerged in these harbour-cities: fluidity of mind, the search for coherence, a need for the just city, a recognition of the mutability of things, a belief in the reality of the ideal — all became the Greeks’ legacy to the world. Born out of a rough, dynamic—and often cruel— moment in human history, it was the dawn of enquiry, where these fundamental questions about self, city and cosmos, asked for the first time, became, as they remain, the unlikely bedrock of understanding.

Read more less

Don’t miss the hottest new fake-dating romance this year! 'A fabulous, fun and feel-good romance with all my favourite tropes. One perfect hero, one very relatable heroine, a wonderful supporting cast and some perfect settings make this an absolute must-read’ Kitty Wilson, The Love Experiment ‘A wonderful, warm and funny romance – I loved this new take on the fake dating trope and was rooting for Annika and Rav the whole time. I read it cover to cover in an afternoon’ Donna Aschroft, Summer in the Scottish Highlands * * * Love was never supposed to be part of the deal… Independent and free-spirted Annika has no plans to settle down anytime soon… if only her parents felt the same way. But when her father unexpectedly falls ill, she’ll do anything to make things better. Even if it means suddenly blurting out she has a boyfriend. The only issue is, he doesn’t exist. Then, by chance, she bumps into handsome entrepreneur Rav, and she can’t believe her luck. He’s single, sworn off relationships and looking for a date to attend work events with. He’s the perfect solution to her troubles. Or is he? Because there’s just one slight catch – he also happens to be her childhood nemesis. It was only ever supposed to be a simple, temporary arrangement. Nothing more. Certainly love was never part of the terms and conditions. But Annika’s about to discover that some deals are made to be broken… * * * Readers have fallen for The Love Arrangement! ‘This was my first Ruby Basu book but she'll definitely be added to my TBR list from now on. This was the most beautiful, slow burn romance’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘One of the best books I’ve read in a while’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An excellent fake date trope story . . . I thoroughly enjoyed this book’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Light hearted, funny love story!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read more less

Remember radicalism? A time when the Toronto art scene was in formation - and destruction? When there were no models and anything was possible? The late 1970s was a key period when Toronto thought itself Canada's most important art centre, but history has shown that the nascent downtown art community - not the established uptown scene of commercial galleries - was where it was happening. It was a political period. Beyond the art politics, art itself was politicised in its contents and context. Art's political dimension was continually polemically posed - or postured - by artists in these years. Beyond politics, posturing, in fact, was a constant presence as the community invented itself. It was also a period rich in invention of new forms of art. Punk, semiotics, and fashion were equally influential, not to mention transgressive sexuality. It was the beginning of the photo-blowup allied to the deconstructed languages of advertising. Video and performance aligned in simulations of television production as the "underground" mimicked the models of the mainstream for its own satiric, critical purposes. With no dominant art form and the influence of New York in decline, there were no models and anything was possible: even the invention of the idea of an art community as a fictional creation. Is Toronto Burning? takes you on a journey through this period rich in invention of new forms of art. It brings together artworks by Susan Britton, David Buchan, Colin Campbell, Elizabeth Chitty, Carole Conde and Karl Beveridge, Judith Doyle, General Idea, Isobel Harry, Ross McLaren, Missing Associates (Peter Dudar & Lily Eng), Clive Robertson, Tom Sherman, and Rodney Werden alongside archival documents. The artworks were all shown at the exhibition of the same name at the end of 2014 at The Art Gallery of York University, curated by Director Philip Monk. In partnership with The Art Gallery of York University.

Read more less

Silk fabrics woven with gold thread, predominantly produced in Italy, were depicted frequently in Renaissance painting, both in costumes and as backdrops for important figures. These painted textiles carried an economic and social significance that a contemporary audience would have recognised as part of the message conveyed by the picture. Gold brocade and Renaissance painting focuses on examples from Italy and the southern Netherlands , dating from the fourteenth to the early seventeenth centuries. Setting aside traditional notions of the hierarchy of the major and minor arts, the book treats gold brocade and painting equally as exponents of the special segment of Renaissance material culture that was art. The fabrics rendered in painting reflected the tradition of actual weaving, but only to an extent, as many gold brocades were painted from imagination. Gold brocades were much more expensive than paintings; hence the two media functioned in different contexts. Gold brocade was an important element in the display of wealth and status at grand courts, while painting often formed the only affordable substitute for courtly splendour for the socially ambitious but less affluent urban upper-middle class. Their value and cultural role also meant that gold-brocaded textiles could be included in paintings both in praise of luxury and as a condemnation of it - sometimes in one and the same work. Gold brocade and Renaissance painting examines the skills artists developed for representing these lavish textiles. It uses a wide range of documents (from inventories and account books to letters, poems, educational treatises and sermons) to compare the economic value of gold brocade and painting, clarify the conditions of their use, and interpret the different messages given by brocades in different pictures. Primarily, however, the book deals with the distinction between fact and fiction, imagination and reality in the world shown in Renaissance paintings.

Read more less

***'Warm, thought-provoking and honest.' - Victoria Hislop'Clever, emotionally intelligent, revelling in style without making us yearn to shop.' - The Times'Self-deprecating and stylish, this is sure to become a classic.' - Vanity Fair'Thoughtful, wry and candid.' - Mail on Sunday'A must-read memoir for even those beyond the fashion set.' - Evening Standard 'It's funny, honest and in typical Shulman style mixes high and low effortlessly. We don't know many people who can write about bras, Donald Tusk and Madeleine Albright all in the same sentence.' - A Little Bird'Scintillating reading.' - The Spectator'Alexandra Shulman's style is unaffected, immediate and hilariously dry. She's brilliant at observing everyday feelings in a joy-sparking turn of phrase.' - Helena Bonham Carter-'Clothes... and other things that matter is a book not only about clothes but about the way we live our lives. From childhood onwards, the way we dress is a result of our personal history. In a mix of memoir, fashion history and social observation I am writing about the person our clothes allows us to be and sometimes the person they turn us into.' - Alexandra ShulmanIn Clothes... and other things that matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions, ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress. From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women's lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world - the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity, ambition, failure, body image and celebrity.By turns funny, refreshingly self-deprecating and often very moving, this startlingly honest memoir from the ex-Editor of British Vogue will encourage women of all ages to consider what their own clothes mean to them, the life they live in them and the stories they tell.

Read more less

The range of metadata needed to run a digital library and preserve its collections in the long term is much more extensive and complicated than anything in its traditional counterpart. It includes the same 'descriptive' information which guides users to the resources they require but must supplement this with comprehensive 'administrative' metadata: this encompasses technical details of the files that make up its collections, the documentation of complex intellectual property rights and the extensive set needed to support its preservation in the long-term. To accommodate all of this requires the use of multiple metadata standards, all of which have to be brought together into a single integrated whole.Metadata in the Digital Library is a complete guide to building a digital library metadata strategy from scratch, using established metadata standards bound together by the markup language XML. The book introduces the reader to the theory of metadata and shows how it can be applied in practice. It lays out the basic principles that should underlie any metadata strategy, including its relation to such fundamentals as the digital curation lifecycle, and demonstrates how they should be put into effect. It introduces the XML language and the key standards for each type of metadata, including Dublin Core and MODS for descriptive metadata and PREMIS for its administrative and preservation counterpart. Finally, the book shows how these can all be integrated using the packaging standard METS. Two case studies from the Warburg Institute in London show how the strategy can be implemented in a working environment.The strategy laid out in this book will ensure that a digital library's metadata will support all of its operations, be fully interoperable with others and enable its long-term preservation. It assumes no prior knowledge of metadata, XML or any of the standards that it covers. It provides both an introduction to best practices in digital library metadata and a manual for their practical implementation.

Read more less

Attention .NET developers, here is your starting point for learning how to create and publish augmented reality (AR) apps for iOS devices. This book introduces and explores iOS augmented reality mobile app development specifically for .NET developers. The continued adoption and popularity of Xamarin, a tool that allows cross-platform mobile application development, opens up many app publishing opportunities to .NET developers that were never before possible, including AR development. You will use Xamarin to target Apple’s augmented reality framework, ARKit, to develop augmented reality apps in the language you prefer—C#. Begin your journey with a foundational introduction to augmented reality, ARKit, Xamarin, and .NET. You will learn how this remarkable collaboration of technologies can produce fantastic experiences, many of them never before tried by .NET developers. From there you will dive into the fundamentals and then explore various topics and AR features. Throughout your learning, proof of concepts will be demonstrated to reinforce learning. After reading this book you will have the fundamentals you need, as well as an understanding of the overarching concepts that combine them. You will come away with an understanding of the wide range of augmented reality features available for developers, including the newest features included in the latest versions of ARKit. What You Will Learn Create rich commercial and personal augmented reality mobile apps Explore the latest capabilities of ARKit Extend and customize chapter examples for building your own amazing apps Graduate from traditional 2D UI app interfaces to immersive 3D AR interfaces Who This Book Is For Developers who want to learn how to use .NET and C# to create augmented reality apps for iOS devices. It is recommended that developers have some Xamarin experience and are aware of the cross-platform options available to .NET. A paid Apple developer account is not needed to experiment with the AR code samples on your devices.

Read more less

Using original material and letters from the First World War, this captivating and eye-opening account uncovers the unnerving realities of the First World War and the impact it had on the town of Tunbridge Wells. It looks at world events, which ultimately determined the outbreak of the war, and how these same events affected the small town in Kent and the people who made up the community. From an early stage the hostilities of the war became very real for the people of Tunbridge Wells. Because of its geographical location, close proximity to major ports and rail links, the town became the headquarters of the nations Territorial Army, which brought with it 5,000 troops from all over the country. Out of nearly 3,000 people from Tunbridge Wells who enlisted in the military between 1914-1918, a staggering 801 did not return, and out of those who did, many suffered terrible wounds and injuries, both physically and mentally. Many moving stories are illustrated throughout, such as that of Private William Starks Vidler of the Royal Marines Light Infantry who became the town's first casualty of the war when his ship, HMS Amphion struck a mine and sunk.Ironically, eighteen others who died in the disaster were German sailors who had been rescued by the Amphion when their ship was sunk by the British Royal Navy. The book looks at letters sent from husbands and sons, who had seen action in the war, and how they were received by families on the Home Front, who were anxiously waiting for new of their loved ones. It documents the triumphs and tragedies of Tunbridge Wells' people as they sought to find normality amongst a reality far removed from anything they had ever known before.

Read more less

The essential guide for mastering the AFQT, the four most important subtests of the ASVABThe Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is the required entrance exam for all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Sponsored by the Department of Defense and administered year-round, if you’re one of the nearly one million people who take it each year, you know it’s an important test. The scores are used to measure aptitude for a variety of careers in the military. ASVAB Basic Training for the AFQT, Fourth Edition puts a laser focus on the four most important sections of the ASVAB, which you must pass in order to enlist in the military and qualify for many military jobs.ASVAB Basic Training for the AFQT is an essential guide to help you achieve exam readiness for these four sections. Written by Janet Wall, a former key member of the Defense Department’s ASVAB team and Commander’s Award winner (USMEPCOM), this book includes 8 full-length sample AFQT subtests—2 Arithmetic Reasoning, 2 Word Knowledge, 2 Paragraph Comprehension, and 2 Mathematics Knowledge—to give you real test-taking experience. Additional support includes answer keys with thorough explanations to help understand the material, expert tips for scoring higher, the latest information on careers in today’s military, and much more.Features: 8 full-length AFQT subtests: 2 Arithmetic Reasoning, 2 Word Knowledge, 2 Paragraph Comprehension, and 2 Mathematics Knowledge Updated and thorough review of AFQT math and verbal topics Answer keys with comprehensive explanations Skill-sharpening activities give the practice you need Insider tips and test prep advice from an AFQT expert Strategies for answering every question type and scoring your best Updated test information and the latest on military careers An introduction to the ASVAB exam, including the CAT-ASVAB (computer adaptive) and the PiCAT (not proctored)

Read more less

Vale's Technique of Screen and Television Writing is an updated and expanded edition of a valuable guide to writing for film and television. Mr. Vale takes the aspiring writer through every phase of a film's development, from the original concept to the final shooting script. Teachers of the craft as well as writers and directors have acclaimed it as one of the best books ever written on how to write a screenplay. This book combines practical advice for the aspiring or established writer with a lucid overview of the unique features of this most contemporary art form, distinguishing film and video from other media and other kinds of storytelling. It teaches the reader to think in terms of the camera and gives practical advice on the realities of filmmaking. At the same time, Vale, who began his own career as a scriptwriter for the great French director Jean Renoir, provides a solid grounding in the history of drama from the Classical Greek theater through the great cinematic works of the twentieth century. Both philosophical and pragmatic, this is a very readable book for students and active professionals who want to improve their writing skills, and for film enthusiasts interested in knowing more about what they see on the screen.Mr. Vale is that rare combination, a practitioner of great experience who can offer a lucid explanation of his craft.Eugene Vale was born in Switzerland and began his career in France in the 1930s. He was an award-winning novelist, film and TV scriptwriter and teacher, whose works include the bestselling novel The Thirteenth Apostle and the scripts for Francis of Assisi, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and The Second Face. He also worked in many other areas of the motion picture industry, including directing, producing, cutting, distribution and finance. His archives are held by Boston University and University of Southern California. Mr. Vale died in 1997, shortly after he completed the updated version of this handbook.

Read more less

The juxtapositions of Zaha Hadid's architectural models and drawings and Judith Turner's photographs of the architect's buildings in this volume reveal that Hadid and Turner are complicit. There is a clear agreement of sensibilities. Each understands the other. Hadid does not design with complete geometries in stable con-figurations, but designs instead with incomplete or distorted geometries that are dynamic and visually unstable. Turner does the same in her photographs, cropping before a form completes itself in a frame that leaves the rest of the form suggested outside the frame. Hadid's work is abstract a permutation of Modernism's trifecta of point, line and plane. Turner's photography, too, is abstract so that Turner's photographs of Hadid's buildings compound the abstraction, arguably intensifying the three-dimension-al abstraction by compressing it into two. Hadid's neutral palette of materials, especially concrete, takes on value in Turner's graphic compositions of black, white and gray, counterintuitively giving neutrality subtle intensity. Hadid structures her designs dynamically with diagonal lines and oblique planes playing with and against each other in three-dimensional fields. Likewise Turner works on the diagonal, always positioning herself obliquely to buildings, shooting glancingly rather than frontally: her diagonal position further dynamizes Hadid's already energized diagonals. Often Turner doubles down on the diagonality by cranking the camera's lens off its up-down axis to heighten the architectural dynamism. Turning her photographic angle lofts Hadid's already anti-gravitational architectural system off the ground. Judith Turner resides in New York where she began taking photographs in 1972. She has had solo exhibitions in various cities in the United States, Europe, South America, Israel, and Japan. Turner has been awarded several grants and fellowships. She received an Honor Award from The American Institute of Architects in 1994 and a Stars of Design Award in Photography from The Design Center of New York in 2007.

Read more less

From the Sunday Times bestseller comes a warm, tender and utterly hilarious story about love and betrayal ‘The feeling you get when you read a Milly Johnson book should be bottled and made available on the NHS’ Debbie JohnsonLove can sting. Or make you fly ... Romance writer and single mum Stevie Honeywell has only weeks to go to her wedding when her fiancé Matthew runs off with her glamorous new friend Jo MacLean. It feels like history repeating itself for Stevie, but this time she is determined to win back her man. She isn't going to act as he might expect. She isn't going to wail and dig her heels in, she is simply going to pretend to let him go whilst she pursues a mad course of dieting, exercising and self-improvement. And it feels like history is repeating itself for Adam MacLean too, who is also determined to win his lady, Jo, back with the same basic psychological tactics. Then he is going to initiate his master plan: Getting together with Stevie to drive Jo wild with jealousy. So, like the Scottish country jig 'The Birds and the Bees', the couples all change partners and learn some revealing truths about each other along the way. But what happens when Adam's master plan actually starts to work? And just who will Stevie be dancing with when the music stops?Praise for Milly Johnson: 'Every time you discover a new Milly book, it’s like finding a pot of gold' heat 'A glorious, heartfelt novel' Rowan Coleman ‘Absolutely loved it. Milly's writing is like getting a big hug with just the right amount of bite underneath. I was rooting for Bonnie from the start' Jane Fallon ‘Bursting with warmth and joie de vivre’ Jill Mansell ‘Warm, optimistic and romantic’ Katie Fford

Read more less

Permaculture is more than just the latest buzzword; it offers positive solutions for many of the environmental and social challenges confronting us. And nowhere are those remedies more needed and desired than in our cities. The Permaculture City provides a new way of thinking about urban living, with practical examples for creating abundant food, energy security, close-knit communities, local and meaningful livelihoods, and sustainable policies in our cities and towns. The same nature-based approach that works so beautifully for growing food—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies perfectly to many of our other needs. Toby Hemenway, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of permaculture design, illuminates a new way forward through examples of edge-pushing innovations, along with a deeply holistic conceptual framework for our cities, towns, and suburbs. The Permaculture City begins in the garden but takes what we have learned there and applies it to a much broader range of human experience; we’re not just gardening plants but people, neighborhoods, and even cultures. Hemenway lays out how permaculture design can help towndwellers solve the challenges of meeting our needs for food, water, shelter, energy, community, and livelihood in sustainable, resilient ways. Readers will find new information on designing the urban home garden and strategies for gardening in community, rethinking our water and energy systems, learning the difference between a “job” and a “livelihood,” and the importance of placemaking and an empowered community. This important book documents the rise of a new sophistication, depth, and diversity in the approaches and thinking of permaculture designers and practitioners. Understanding nature can do more than improve how we grow, make, or consume things; it can also teach us how to cooperate, make decisions, and arrive at good solutions.

Read more less

How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history -- his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist papers and then helped to found the Republican party just a few years later. And though he has frequently been celebrated as the "father of the constitution," his contributions to our founding document were subtler than many have supposed. This so-called "Madison problem" has occupied scholars for ages.Previous biographies have made sense of Madison's mixed record by breaking his life into discrete periods. But this approach falls short. Madison was, of course, a single person -- a brilliant thinker whose life's work was to forge a stronger Union around principles of limited government, individual rights, and above all, justice. As Jay Cost argues in this incisive new biography, we cannot comprehend Madison's legacy without understanding him as a working politician. We tend to focus on his accomplishments as a statesman and theorist -- but the same ideals that guided his thinking in these arenas shaped his practice of politics, where they were arguably more influential. Indeed, Madison was the original American politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom.Bringing together the full range of his intellectual life, Cost shows us Madison as we've never seen him before: not as a man with uncertain opinions and inconstant views -- but as a coherent and unified thinker, a skilled strategist, and a key contributor to the ideals that have shaped our history. He was, in short, the first American politician.

Read more less

THE INSTANT NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERThe seven rules to follow to realise your true purpose in life-distilled by Arnold Schwarzenegger from his own journey of ceaseless reinvention and extraordinary achievement, and available for absolutely anyone.The world's greatest bodybuilder. The world's highest paid movie star. The leader of the world's sixth largest economy. That these are the same person sounds like the setup to a joke. But this is no joke. This is Arnold Schwarzenegger. And this did not happen by accident.Arnold's stratospheric success happened as part of a process. As the result of clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back. All of it guided by the one lesson Arnold's father hammered into him above all: be useful. As Arnold conquered every realm he entered, he kept his father's adage close to his heart.Written with his uniquely earnest, blunt, powerful voice, BE USEFUL takes readers on an inspirational tour through Arnold's toolkit for a meaningful life. Arnold shows us how to put those tools to work, in service of whatever fulfilling future we can dream up for ourselves. He brings his insights to vivid life with compelling personal stories, life-changing successes and life-threatening failures alike--some of them famous, some told here for the first time ever.Too many of us struggle to disconnect from our self-pity and connect to our purpose. At an early age, Arnold forged the mental tools to build the ladder out of the poverty and narrow-mindedness of his rural Austrian hometown, tools he used to add rung after rung from there. Now he has shared that wisdom with all of us. As he puts it, no one is going to come rescue you -- you only have yourself. The good news, it turns out, is that you are all you need.The instant number 1 Sunday Times bestseller, October 2023

Read more less

The evolution of sustainability, with a practical framework for integration Regenerative Development and Design takes sustainability to the next level, and provides a framework for incorporating regenerative design principles into your current process. The Regenesis Group is a coalition of experienced design, land-use, planning, business, and development professionals who represent the forefront of the movement; in this book, they explain what regenerative development is, how and why it works, and how you can incorporate the fundamental principles into your practice. A clear, focused framework shows you how to merge regenerative concepts with your existing work, backed by numerous examples that guide practical application while illustrating regenerative design and development in action. As the most comprehensive and systemic approach to regenerative development, this book is a must-have resource for architects, planners, and designers seeking the next step in sustainability. Regenerative design and development positions humans as co-creative and mutually-evolving participants in an ecosystem—not just a built environment. This book describes how to bring that focus to your design from the earliest stages. Understand the fundamentals of regenerative design and development Learn how regenerative development contributes to sustainability Integrate regenerative development concepts into practice Examine sample designs that embody the regenerative concept To create a design with true sustainability, considerations must extend far beyond siting, materials, and efficiency. Designers must look at the place, it's inhabitants, and the purpose—the whole living ecosystem—and proceed with their work from that more humbling perspective. The finished product should itself be an ecosystem and sustainable economy, which is the root of the regenerative development approach. Sustainability has evolved, and the designer's responsibility has increased in kind. Regenerative Development and Design provides an authoritative resource for those ready to take the next step forward.

Read more less

The fascinating untold story of how the ancients imagined robots and other forms of artificial life—and even invented real automated machines The first robot to walk the earth was a bronze giant called Talos. This wondrous machine was created not by MIT Robotics Lab, but by Hephaestus, the Greek god of invention. More than 2,500 years ago, long before medieval automata, and centuries before technology made self-moving devices possible, Greek mythology was exploring ideas about creating artificial life—and grappling with still-unresolved ethical concerns about biotechne, “life through craft.” In this compelling, richly illustrated book, Adrienne Mayor tells the fascinating story of how ancient Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese myths envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices, and human enhancements—and how these visions relate to and reflect the ancient invention of real animated machines.As early as Homer, Greeks were imagining robotic servants, animated statues, and even ancient versions of Artificial Intelligence, while in Indian legend, Buddha’s precious relics were defended by robot warriors copied from Greco-Roman designs for real automata. Mythic automata appear in tales about Jason and the Argonauts, Medea, Daedalus, Prometheus, and Pandora, and many of these machines are described as being built with the same materials and methods that human artisans used to make tools and statues. And, indeed, many sophisticated animated devices were actually built in antiquity, reaching a climax with the creation of a host of automata in the ancient city of learning, Alexandria, the original Silicon Valley.A groundbreaking account of the earliest expressions of the timeless impulse to create artificial life, Gods and Robots reveals how some of today’s most advanced innovations in robotics and AI were foreshadowed in ancient myth—and how science has always been driven by imagination. This is mythology for the age of AI.

Read more less

'A marvellous book, lovingly edited, beautifully produced. . . and brimming with literary insights, much laughter, a sprinkle of gossip and the poet's insuppressible joie de vivre, even in adversity. Buy it, read it, and keep it to hand on to your children.' John Banville, Guardian'An epistolary cornucopia. . . contains an abundance of insight and illumination, literary gossip and appraisal, playfulness and cogency, all bound up with a steadfast attention to the feelings and expectations of each correspondent.' Patricia Craig, TLS Books of the YearEvery now and again I need to get down here, to get into the Diogenes tub, as it were, or the Colmcille beehive hut, or the Mossbawn scullery. At any rate, a hedge surrounds me, the blackbird calls, the soul settles for an hour or two . . .For all his public eminence, Seamus Heaney seems never to have lost the compelling need to write personal letters. In this ample but discriminating selection from fifty years of his correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan - from his early days in Belfast, through his controversial decision to settle in the Republic, to the gradual broadening of horizons that culminated in the award of a Nobel Prize and the years of international acclaim that kept him heroically busy until his death.Editor Christopher Reid draws from both public and private archives to reveal this story in the poet's own words. Generous, funny, exuberant, confiding, irreverent, empathetic and deeply thoughtful, the letters encompass decades-long relationships with friends and colleagues, as well as showing an unstinted responsiveness to passing acquaintances. Moreover, Heaney's joyous mastery of language is as evident here as it is in any of his writing for a literary readership.Listening to Heaney's voice, we find ourselves in the same room as a man whose presence, when he lived, enriched the world immeasurably, and whose legacy continues to deepen our sense of what truly matters.

Read more less

People who saw the first moving pictures at the end of the nineteenth century were delighted by a new art that communicated without words – yet they were also alarmed to be witnessing events in a strange, mute, spectral realm, where the laws of time and space were suspended and magical transformations could occur. Some early commentators hailed cinema as a blessing and praised it for resurrecting the dead; others likened it to a hypnotic trance or a hallucinogenic drug. The medium has always been excited by speed, and it enjoys sending the body on furious kinetic chases; at the same time, it stealthily probes our minds, invading our dreams and titillating our desires. Although this is an art kindled by light and inflamed by colour, it is nurtured by darkness and can reduce life to an insubstantial shadow play. Either way, as Peter Conrad argues in this brilliant book, the movie camera has given us new eyes and changed forever our view of reality. The Mysteries of Cinema sets out to map this ambiguous territory by taking readers on a thematic roller-coaster ride through movie history. Directors and critics speculate about the nature of cinematic vision, and there are contributions to the debate from writers like Kafka, Virginia Woolf and Joan Didion, artists including Salvador Dalí, George Grosz and Fernand Léger, and the composers Arnold Schoenberg and Dmitri Shostakovich. The book begins from the audacious innovations of silent film, and examines the influence of French surrealism and German expressionism; it accounts for the appeal of Hollywood genres like the Western, the horror film and the musical, and ends by considering the fate of the moving image in our visually glutted society. Combining contagious enthusiasm with an eye for the subjective quirks of filmmakers and the allure of favourite performers, Conrad delivers an astonishing addition to the literature on the seventh art. With 61 illustrations

Read more less

In this ground-breaking book, Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff looks back to our ancestors for solutions to our failing modern-day parenting theories. When Dr Michaeleen Doucleff became a mother, she examined the studies behind modern parenting guidance and found that the evidence was frustratingly limited, and the conclusions often ineffective. She began to wonder if an opposite approach was needed – one founded on traditional wisdom, like the knowledge and experience passed down over hundreds, even thousands, of years within ancient cultures. With her young daughter in tow, she travelled across the world to observe and practice parenting strategies alongside families in three of the world's most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadza families in Tanzania. Dr Doucleff soon learned that these cultures don't have the same problems with children that Western parents do. Most strikingly, parents build a relationship with young children that is vastly different from the one many Western parents develop, built on co-operation instead of control; trust instead of fear; and personalised needs instead of standardised development milestones. In Hunt, Gather, Parent, Doucleff introduces us to families where parents help little ones learn to control their emotions and reduce tantrums by the parents themselves controlling their own frustrations; foster self-sufficiency by safely giving kids the autonomy to manage risks and explore their limits; and motivate children to help with chores without using bribes or threats. Doucleff also talks to psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and sociologists and explains how the tools and tips can impact children's mental health and development..Packed with practical takeaways, Hunt, Gather, Parent helps us rethink the ways we relate to our children, and reveals a universal parenting paradigm adapted for modern families.

Read more less

Chosen as a BOOK OF THE YEAR in The Times, The Spectator, Prospect, Sunday Times, Economist, New Statesman, Telegraph, Financial Times, TLS, New York Times, and Washington Post. 'This is ridiculous. No book about German philosophy has any right to be this fun. This witty, gossipy, sparkling history . . . fizzed with creative energy' The Times, Book of the YearMagnificent Rebels is - well - magnificent. This is how such books should be written, with clarity, passion and delight. A thrilling intellectual adventure' JOHN BANVILLE, Book of the Year'History writing at its best' The Spectator, Book of the Year'A thrilling page-turner, by turns comical & tragic... My book of the year so far' TOM HOLLANDIn the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind. The rulers of Europe had ordered their peoples how to think and act for too long. Based in the small German town of Jena, through poetry, drama, philosophy and science, they transformed the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. They were the first Romantics.Their way of understanding the world still frames our lives and being.We're still empowered by their daring leap into the self. We still think with their minds, see with their imagination and feel with their emotions. We also still walk the same tightrope between meaningful self-fulfilment and destructive narcissism, between the rights of the individual and our role as a member of our community and our responsibilities towards future generations who will inhabit this planet. This extraordinary group of friends changed our world. It is impossible to imagine our lives, thoughts and understanding without the foundation of their ground-breaking ideas.

Read more less

Discover the classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time'A fast-paced, exciting, gripping thriller' 5***** Reader Review'One of Dick Francis's best . . . A real page-turner' 5***** Reader Review'Deeply satisfying from beginning to end' 5***** Reader Review______Jockey and amateur photographer Philip Nore knows all too well how it feels to take a tumble from a horse. He also knows what it's like to feel the wrath of furious owners and trainers. You can't always be a winner. George Millace hated winners. As a photographer he specialized in taking pictures that exposed the failings of riders. But now he's dead - and no one seems very sorry. But when Millace's home is broken into during his funeral and Nore finds himself helping clear up, he finds something unexpected. Millace had other pictures - ones people will go to desperate lengths to possess. Now he must find out who wants them - and fast.Because if George Millace's death was no accident, then his killers are getting closer . . .Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Reflex is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph'A regular winner . . . as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life'Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard'Still the master' Racing Post

Read more less

Spring 1941 – the Third Reich triumphant! Having taken over Germany in 1933, Hitler launched a series of lightning campaigns across Europe that crushed Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, the Low Countries and then the Balkans. Only Great Britain had withstood the Nazis, but even it was battered and bruised and close to defeat. Then, on 22 June 1941 – in the most momentous decision of the war – the Nazi dictator turned East and flung his victorious armies into the vastness of the Soviet Union. Having signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Hitler back in 1939, Stalin was taken completely by surprise by the German attack. Hitler’s Wehrmacht – buoyed by years of untrammelled success and led by some of the greatest commanders Nazi Germany had to offer – crashed across the border and sent the Red Army reeling. The German plan was simple and its scale staggering; over three million men, armed with over three thousand panzers, the same number of aircraft, more than seven thousand guns and carried by over six hundred thousand vehicles and even more horses, would be joined by over half a million soldiers from allied countries, and together they would destroy the largest army in the world while advancing a thousand miles to the very borders of Asiatic Russia. There they would halt and what remained of the Soviet Union and the communist faith that spawned it would wither and die. In the newly conquered lebensraum, Hitler and the Nazis would then commence the biggest mass human extermination programme in history. Barbarossa was huge, but it was fought by men; and on the German side in particular, it would be fought by junior officers and simple soldiers as the Wehrmacht tried to win the war once and for all.

Read more less

This guide to the battlefields of Ypres is intended for both the casual tourist and the serious scholar. Sanctuary Wood and the village of Hooge saw intense fighting during World War I, being situated for much of the time in the front line of the notorious Ypres Salient. Beginning at the museum at the wood itself, the book takes the reader on an explanatory tour of the immediate area, which includes the neighbouring British cemetery. Text and supporting photographs help to explain the significance of individual burials, such as that of the German aviator, Hans Roser, the victim of an air battle with the Royal Flying Corps pilot, Lance Hawker, who for his exploits in this action and others on the same day was awarded the first VC for aerial combat. Between May and September 1915, Hooge was rarely out of the newspapers, and the fierce battles that took place here - including the first use of the dreaded "Flamenwerfer" against British troops - are described in a series of chapters supported by maps and contemporary accounts. Also recounted are the exploits of Canadian troops in June 1916, when valuable ground was lost and almost immediately recaptured. (In one incident, the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry came very close to losing their regimental colour to the Germans.) Rather less violent, but typical aspects of World War I life are covered with sections of a trench raid (1918) and the usual routine of an engineer officer in the trenches. The guide directs readers to view certain areas and explains what they would be seeing more than 70 years ago - whether it would be the British or German lines. Names that were given to geographical features at the time of the fighting are explained, together with military terms and methods of operation.

Read more less

Acupressure uses the same pressure points of acupuncture but instead of needles, you simply use your fingers to gently but firmly stimulate your body's natural ability to heal. With its easy and conversational style along with step-by-step photos, you'll discover how to heal your concerns naturally while living a pain-free and vibrant lifestyle. When acupressure points are correctly stimulated they promote blood circulation and release muscular tension. This helps to heal pain and is ideal for preventative health because it actually boosts your immune system and increases the flow of energy throughout your body. This book covers everything you need to know about acupressure along with the history and philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 64 pressure points and how they help to heal 64 specific health concerns. The book is broken down into easy-to-understand sections beginning with: Part 1: Understanding Chinese Medicine and Treatment of Disease: * History & philosophy of TCM, The 5 Elements, The Symbolic System, Acupressure defined and its connection to our energy flow. Part 2: 12 Systems of Chinese Medicine: * Head (including eye, nose throat), Respiratory, Digestive, Reproductive health for women & men, Integumentary (skin disorders), Musculoskeletal, Endocrine, Lymph/Immune, Urinary, Circulatory & Nervous. Part 3: 64 Key Acupressure Points for Treating Disease: * Comprehensive instructions and step-by-step photos describe and explain how to apply the correct pressure for optimal health. Part 4: Treating Health Problems with Acupressure & Aromatherapy: * Techniques for treating all the conditions and specific instructions for treating 64 common health conditions such as: toothache, tinnitus, headache, cough, asthma, acid reflux, bloating, hot flushes, morning sickness, eczema, tennis elbow, adrenal fatigue, bladder infections, anxiety and insomnia. Discover the art of acupressure and enjoy a wonderful sense of enhanced well being and health.

Read more less

DISCOVER 200 FLAVOURFUL SPANISH RECIPESWith over 200 recipes infused with the vibrant and complex flavours of Spain, you can recreate the tastes of the tapas bar in your home. There are tempting recipes to suit any occasion, from simple family lunches to dinner party centrepieces. Whip up a refreshing Andalusian Gazpacho on a hot summer's day or, for something simple yet delicious, try Mussels in a Saffron Broth. If you've got a celebration coming up, wow friends and family with a Valencian Paella. And, to round things off perfectly, sample one of the sweet treats, such as Moscatel Roasted Peaches or Santiago Almond Torte.Check out some of the other titles in the series:Hamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Super SoupsHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Halogen Oven RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Fast Vegetarian RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Cakes & BakesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Gluten-Free RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Really Easy RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Pasta DishesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 More Slow Cooker RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Delicious DessertsHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Veggie FeastsHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 One Pot MealsHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Student MealsHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Spiralizer RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Easy Indian DishesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 CupcakesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Thai FavouritesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 5:2 Diet RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Light Slow Cooker RecipesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Easy Tagines and MoreHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Low Fat DishesHamlyn All Colour Cookery: 200 Cakes & Bakes

Read more less

When a woman with brains and beauty from a wealthy background decides to take her fate into her own hands and challenge the restrictions of a male-oriented, conservative society, the consequences can be devastating.Born into one of Pakistan's most influential families, Tehmina Durrani was raised in the privileged milieu of Lahore high society, and educated at the same school as Benazir Bhutto. Like all women of her rank, she was expected to marry a prosperous Muslim from a respectable family, bear him many children, and lead a sheltered life of air-conditioned leisure. When she married Mustafa Khar, one of Pakistan's most eminent political figures, she continued to move in the best circles, and learned to keep up the public façade as a glamorous, cultivated wife, and mother of four children.In private, however, the story-book romance of the most talked-about couple in Pakistan rapidly turned sour. Mustafa Khar became violently possessive and pathologically jealous, and succeeded in cutting his wife off from the outside world. For the course of the fourteen-year marriage, she suffered alone, in silence.When Tehmina decided to rebel, the price she paid was extremely high: as a Muslim woman seeking a divorce, she signed away all financial support, lost the custody of her four children, and found herself alienated from her friends and disowned by her parents.Following the divorce, she felt she had to tell her story. When Pakistan publishers balked at the controversial nature of her manuscript, she published it herself. The book was a bombshell and shook Pakistani society to its foundations. Her at last was someone who had succeeding in reconciling her faith in Islam with her ardent belief in women's rights. Tehmina's story, adapted now for western readers, provides extraordinary insights into the vulnerable position of women caught in the complex web of Muslim society.

Read more less

The last Ice Age, which came to an end about 12,000 years ago, swept the bands of hunter gatherers from the face of the land that was to become Britain and Ireland, but as the ice sheets retreated and the climate improved so human groups spread slowly northwards, re-colonizing the land that had been laid waste. From that time onwards Britain and Ireland have been continuously inhabited and the resident population has increased from a few hundreds to more than 60 million. Britain Begins is nothing less than the story of the origins of the British and the Irish peoples, from around 10,000BC to the eve of the Norman Conquest. Using the most up to date archaeological evidence together with new work on DNA and other scientific techniques which help us to trace the origins and movements of these early settlers, Barry Cunliffe offers a rich narrative account of the first islanders - who they were, where they came from, and how they interacted one with another. Underlying this narrative throughout is the story of the sea, which allowed the islanders and their continental neighbours to be in constant contact. The story told by the archaeological evidence, in later periods augmented by historical texts, satisfies our need to know who we are and where we come from. But before the development of the discipline of archaeology, people used what scraps there were, gleaned from Biblical and classical texts, to create a largely mythological origin for the British. Britain Begins also explores the development of these early myths, which show our ancestors attempting to understand their origins. And, as Cunliffe shows, today's archaeologists are driven by the same desire to understand the past - the only real difference is that we have vastly more evidence to work with.

Read more less

How did the West End of London become the world's leading pleasure district? What is the source of its magnetic appeal? How did the centre of London become Theatreland? London's West End, 1800-1914 is the first ever history of the area which has enthralled millions. The reader will discover the growth of theatres, opera houses, galleries, restaurants, department stores, casinos, exhibition centres, night clubs, street life, and the sex industry. The area from the Strand to Oxford Street came to stand for sensation and vulgarity but also the promotion of high culture. The West End produced shows and fashions whose impact rippled outwards around the globe. During the nineteenth century, an area that serviced the needs of the aristocracy was opened up to a wider public whilst retaining the imprint of luxury and prestige. Rohan McWilliam tells the story of the great artists, actors and entrepreneurs who made the West End: figures such as Gilbert and Sullivan, the playwright Dion Boucicault, the music hall artiste Jenny Hill, and the American Harry Gordon Selfridge who wanted to create the best shop in the world. At the same time, McWilliam explores the distinctive spaces created in the West End, from the glamour of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, through to low life bars and taverns. We encounter the origins of the modern star system and celebrity culture. London's West End, 1800-1914 moves from the creation of Regent Street to the glory days of the Edwardian period when the West End was the heart of empire and the entertainment industry. Much of modern culture and consumer society was shaped by a relatively small area in the middle of London. This pioneering study establishes why that was.

Read more less

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER, JUNE 2021'Annie Macmanus is a writer whose understanding and capturing of human nature comes as easily to her as breathing' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS'A work of gilded melancholy that is going to take everyone by surprise' UNA MULLALLY'Macmanus writes with flair and confidence rarely seen in a debut' SINÉAD GLEESONOne Saturday morning, TJ McConnell wakes up to find his mother, Mary, gone. He doesn't know where - or why - but he's the only one who can help find her.Mary grew up longing for information about the mother she never knew. Her brother could barely remember her, and their father numbed his pain with drink.Now aged thirty-seven, Mary has lived in the same house her whole life. She's never left Belfast. TJ, who's about to turn eighteen, is itching to see more of the world.But when his mother disappears, TJ begins to realise what he's been taking for granted.MOTHER MOTHER takes us down the challenging road of Mary's life while following TJ's increasingly desperate search for her, as he begins to discover what has led her to this point. This is a story about family, grief, addiction and motherhood, and it asks an important question - if you spend your life giving everything to the ones you love, do you risk losing yourself along the way?'A brilliant book...that explores the brutal legacy of addiction and the consequences of a deep grief left to stagnate' Sara Cox'A tender, surprising, occasionally bleak, moving and delicate book' Irish Times'A study of grief, addiction and what it means to be a mother' Stylist'Melancholy, beautifully unadorned prose' Mail on Sunday'Unflinching and unsparing but also beautifully written' Daily Mail'An incredible debut' Daily Mirror'A page-turning exploration of grief, addiction, young motherhood and unbreakable family ties' British Vogue

Read more less

Published on the quatercentenary of the Mayflower’s journey, this book offers a unique perspective by placing the story in a British context and providing a fresh analysis of why the journey took place. It explores the economic as well as the religious reasons for the journey to strip away the romantic, orthodox view of the Mayflower and offer an illuminating insight into how the journey became a reality. The voyage of the Mayflower has almost always been seen as part of American history and as part of America’s struggle for democracy. Here Graham Taylor presents the story as part of British history and part of Britain’s struggle for democracy. The tale usually told is of a romantic departure from Plymouth, Devon, and a momentous arrival in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In fact, the voyage arose out of grim and protracted negotiations in London. It was financed and organised by random investors in the City of London and its religious element was supplied by an underground church in Southwark, London. It sailed to America probably from Blackwall, in what is now London. The ship and its chief officers were based in Rotherhithe – also now London. Far from romantic, the voyage was a catalogue of mistakes and mishaps. The ship did not intend to go to Plymouth, Devon, but was forced to call in there for repairs. In America the voyagers did not know where to land, and when they did choose a place, there was almost a mutiny. Yet the Pilgrims took on board a precious cargo ‒ a democratic spirit from London mellowed by a tolerance they learned in Holland. This spirit did not just inspire American democracy but acted as a shining example to those in Britain they left behind. The same communities in London that planned the voyage of the Mayflower were instrumental in waging and winning the English Civil War and consequently some of the liberties the British enjoy today.

Read more less

'This is a compelling thriller that keeps the reader hooked until the end.' - VOYA starred review'Readers will be drawn in by Armstrong's expert pacing and meticulously constructed mystery. As the Bishop boys and Winter finally piece together the truth, the plot races towards a gripping climax. Fans of April Henry will relish this thriller' - BooklistReeve's End is the kind of place every kid can't wait to escape. Each summer, a dozen kids leave and at least a quarter never come back. Winter Crane doesn't blame them - she plans to do the same in another year. She'll leave behind the trailer park, and never look back. All she has to do is stay out of trouble. But then she has a chance encounter with a boy called Lennon, injured and left for dead in the woods. Her discovery has Winter questioning everything she thought she knew about her sleepy town. And when Lennon vanishes and his brother Jude comes looking for him, things take a sinister turn. Someone wants Winter out of the picture. Can she trust Jude? Or will he deliver them both into the hands of a stalker?A gripping YA thriller by New York Times number one bestseller Kelley Armstrong.Books by Kelley Armstrong: Women of the Otherworld series Bitten Stolen Dime Store Magic Industrial Magic Haunted Broken No Humans Involved Personal Demon Living with the Dead Frost Bitten Walking the Witch Spellbound Thirteen Nadia Stafford Exit Strategy Made to be Broken Wild JusticeRocktonCity of the LostA Darkness AbsoluteThis Fallen PreyWatcher in the WoodsAlone in the Wild Darkest Powers The Summoning The Awakening The Reckoning Otherworld Tales Men of the Otherworld Tales of the Otherworld Otherworld Nights Otherworld Secrets Otherworld Chills Darkness Rising The Gathering The Calling The Rising Cainsville Omens Visions Deceptions Betrayals Rituals

Read more less

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR What is the nature of things? Must I think my own way through the world? What is justice? How can I be me? How should we treat each other? Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests, in a life ruled by imagined metaphysical monsters. 2,500 years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbour-cities, that way of thinking began to change. Men (and some women) decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own worrying and thinking minds to the conundrums of life. These great innovators shaped the beginnings of philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus in Ephesus was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. In Lesbos, the Aegean island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the early lyric poets asked themselves ‘How can I be true to myself?’ In Samos, Pythagoras imagined an everlasting soul and took his ideas to Italy where they flowered again in surprising and radical forms. Prize-winning writer Adam Nicolson travels through this transforming world and asks what light these ancient thinkers can throw on our deepest preconceptions. Sparkling with maps, photographs and artwork, How to Be is a journey into the origins of Western thought. Hugely formative ideas emerged in these harbour-cities: fluidity of mind, the search for coherence, a need for the just city, a recognition of the mutability of things, a belief in the reality of the ideal — all became the Greeks’ legacy to the world. Born out of a rough, dynamic—and often cruel— moment in human history, it was the dawn of enquiry, where these fundamental questions about self, city and cosmos, asked for the first time, became, as they remain, the unlikely bedrock of understanding.

Read more less