boundaries daring greatly
Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi: Masculinity,
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Olsen, Christopher J., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, This groundbreaking study of the politics of secession combines traditional political history with current work in anthropology and gender and ritual studies. Christopher J. Olsen has drawn on local election returns, rural newspapers, manuscripts, and numerous county records to sketch a new picture of the intricate and colorful world of local politics. In particular, he demonstrates how the move toward secession in Mississippi was deeply influenced by the demands of masculinity within the state's antiparty political culture. Face-to-face relationships and personal reputations, organized around neighborhood networks of friends and extended kin, were at the heart of antebellum Mississippi politics. The intimate, public nature of this tradition allowed voters to assess each candidate's individual status and fitness for public leadership. Key virtues were independence and physical courage, as well as reliability and loyalty to the community, and the political culture offered numerous chances to demonstrate all of these (sometimes contradictory) qualities. Like dueling and other male rituals, voting and running for office helped set the boundaries of class and power. They also helped mediate the conflicts between nineteenth-century American egalitarianism, democracy, and geographic mobility, and the South's exaggerated patriarchal hierarchy, sustained by honor and slavery. The political system, however, functioned effectively only as long as it remained a personal exercise between individuals, divorced from the anonymity of institutional parties. This antiparty tradition eliminated the distinction between men as individuals and as public representatives, which caused them to assessand interpret all political events and rhetoric in a personal manner. The election of and success of the Republicans' antisouthern, free soil program, therefore, presented an "insulting" challenge to personal, family, and community honor. As Olsen shows in detail, the sectional controversy engaged men where they measured themselves, in public, with and against their peers, and linked their understanding of masculinity with formal politics, through which the voters actually brought about secession. Political Culture and Secession in Mississippi provides a rich new perspective on the events leading up to the Civil War and will prove an invaluable tool for understanding the central crisis in American politics.
Michael Douglas: A Biography
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Eliot, Marc, PUBLISHER: Random House USA Inc, A groundbreaking portrait of one of Hollywood's most successful stars, from critically acclaimed and bestselling biographer Marc Eliot Through determination, inventiveness, and charisma, Michael Douglas emerged from the long shadow cast by his movie-legend father, Kirk Douglas, to become his own man and one of the film industry's most formi-dable players. Overcoming the curse of failure that haunts the sons and daughters of Hollywood celebrities, Michael became a sensation when he successfully brought "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "starring his friend Jack Nicholson, to the screen after numerous setbacks, including his father's own failed attempts to make it happen. This box-office phenomenon won Michael his first Oscar (the film won five total, including Best Picture), an award Kirk hadn't won at the time, and solidified the turbulent, competitive father-son relationship that would shape Michael's career and personal life. In the decades that followed, Michael established a reputation for taking chances on new talent and proj-ects by producing and starring in the hugely successful "Romancing the Stone "and "Jewel of the Nile "movies, while cultivating a multifaceted acting persona--edgy, rebel-lious, and a little dark--in such films as "Wall Street, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, "and "Disclosure. " Yet as his career thrived, Michael's personal life floundered, with an unhappy and tumultuous first mar-riage, rumors of infidelity (especially with leading ladies such as Kathleen Turner), and a headline-grabbing stint in rehab. Rocked by a series of tragedies, including Kirk's strokes, his son Cameron's incarceration, and his own fight against throat cancer, Michael has emerged trium-phant, healthy, and happy in his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Welsh actress twenty-five years his junior, and their new young family. In "Michael Douglas, "Marc Eliot brings into sharp fo-cus this incredible career, complicated personal life, and legendary Hollywood family. Eliot's fascinating portrait of the lows and remarkable highs in Michael's life--in-cluding the thorny yet influential relationship with his father--breaks boundaries in understanding the life and work of a true American film star.
Are We There Yet?: The Golden Age of American Family
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Rugh, Susan Sessions, PUBLISHER: University Press of Kansas, When TV celebrity Dinah Shore sang "See the USA in your Chevrolet," s America took her to heart. Every summer, parents piled the kids in the back seat, threw the luggage in the trunk, and took to the open highway. Chronicling this innately American ritual, Susan Rugh presents a cultural history of the American middle-class family vacation from to , tracing its evolution from the establishment of this summer tradition to its decline. The first in-depth look at post-World War II family travel, Rugh's study recounts how postwar prosperity and mass consumption--abetted by paid vacation leave, car ownership, and the new interstate highway system--forged the ritual of the family road trip and how that ritual became entwined with what it meant to be an American. With each car a safe haven from the Cold War, vacations became a means of strengthening family bonds and educating children in parental values, national heritage, and citizenship. Rugh's history looks closely at specific types of trips, from adventures in the Wild West to camping vacations in national parks to summers at Catskill resorts. It also highlights changing patterns of family life, such as the relationship between work and play, the increase in the number of working women, and the generation gap of the sixties. Distinctively, Rugh also plumbs NAACP archives and travel guides marketed specifically to blacks to examine the racial boundaries of road trips in light of segregated public accommodations that forced many black families to sleep in cars--a humiliation that helped spark the civil rights struggle. In addition, she explains how the experience of family camping predisposed baby boomers toward a strongenvironmental consciousness. Until the s recession ended three decades of prosperity and the traditional nuclear family began to splinter, these family vacations were securely woven into the fabric of American life. Rugh's book allows readers to relive those wondrous wanderings across the American landscape and to better understand how they helped define an essential aspect of American culture. Notwithstanding the rueful memories of discomforts and squabbles in a crowded car, those were magical times for many of the nation's families.
The View: Heart Over Mind, Mind Over Matter: From Conan
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Patrick, Dave, PUBLISHER: Polair Publishing, Twenty-NINE influential thinkers present their own 'vital messages' about the changes that are happening and the changes that must happen as we move fully into a new world consciousness. Symbolic of the changes is the year , the year the ancient Mayan Calendar simply ends. It is probably best to think of it, though, as the great symbol of a new beginning. THE VIEW adds greatly to our understanding about this watershed, beginning from the simple question, 'How do we take charge of the change?'.THE VIEW also offers a look forward and back at what has led us to the brink of a new spirituality in life -'heart over mind': the movement that was once called simply 'the New Age'. It begins with one of the world's great pioneers. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published a call to the world to take up the challenges death and the afterlife offered, and acknowledge a spiritual framework wider than any church then offered. He called his book THE VITAL MESSAGE, and from the start he made at changing people's consciousness much of the inspiration of other writers has unfolded. This book celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth, on 22nd May . The 'Aquarian Age', another term for our evolving consciousness, is radical in its ideas: distrustful of large organizations, thriving when it works in small groups, respectful of diversity and counter-cultures. It is also faced with dramatic new problems - sustainability in a threatened world, for instance - and huge intellectual opportunities, such as the new physics. THE VIEW makes it plain that while we may harness science, science cannot do without the simple human understanding that comes from the heart. The new spirituality is thus personal, but it is authentic.In different ways the contributors to THE VIEW take up today's opportunities and challenges with great insight. They suggest ways in which humankind may now move forward, and describe some of the discoveries and innovations which may reshape our lives in years still to come. Chapters cover Conan Doyle, Spirituality, Health, Community, Future-thinking and Business.Contributors include Neale Donald Walsch, Ervin Laszlo, Peter Russell, Owen Dudley Edwards, Gaye Mack, Roger Straughan, Drew Pryde, Colum Hayward, Darrell Mann, James Baltzell, Errol Weiner, A&K Laszlo and Hunter Lovins.
Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: McKinney, Phil, PUBLISHER: Hyperion Books, The Killer Questions Your Company Should Be Asking Generating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include: What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true? What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years? What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want? Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success. Praise for Beyond the Obvious "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see." --Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity "I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart--or greatly enhance-- your innovation efforts." --B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility. "Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products." --Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple
A History of the Modern Middle East
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Cleveland, William L., PUBLISHER: Westview Press, This comprehensive work provides a penetrating analysis of modern Middle Eastern history, from the Ottoman and Egyptian reforms, through the challenge of Western imperialism, to the Iranian Revolution and the recent Gulf War. After introducing the reader to the region's history from the origins of Islam in the seventh century, Cleveland focuses on the past two centuries of profound and often dramatic change. While built around a framework of political history, the book also carefully integrates social, cultural, and economic developments into a single, carefully crafted account.Cleveland sets the stage with a superb, concise overview of the long-term, general patterns of Middle Eastern history. The book opens with a portrayal of Islam that stresses an understanding of this great world religion and culture on its own terms and in its specific historical setting. The rich potential of this culture manifested itself in shifting centers of Islamic florescence, culminating in the rise of the Ottoman and Safavid Empires as the central political and social entities of the Middle East in the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries.The book next examines the crucial developments of the nineteenth century--an era characterized by attempts at the self-transformation of Middle Eastern societies, a process sometimes misleadingly referred to as "modernization" or "Westernization." The resulting disruption of the established order was a wrenching and disorienting experience for the peoples of the region.Defeat in World War I delivered the coup de grace to Ottoman rule and brought in the "mandate system" through which the British and the French sought to impose their overlordship on the Arab world.The interwar years, through to the end of World War II, were characterized by the Arab struggle for independence. This struggle led to the emergence of the major political ideologies of the Arab world--regionalism, pan-Arab nationalism--combined with the enduring appeal of Islamic solidarity. During this same period the two major independent states of the region, Turkey and Iran, embarked on intensive programs of secular reform designed to remake their societies in the image of the West. Several Arab states were able to establish their independence, but this process was greatly complicated by the legacies of European rule, especially the founding of the state of Israel in and the cold war rivalry of the superpowers.Many of the problems faced in the region today are a direct consequence of this historical legacy: the Arab-Israeli conflict, the concentration of oil wealth into the hands of a few, the Iran-Iraq war, the Palestinian problem, the dissolution of Lebanon, Islamic fundamentalism, and the striving for power on the world stage of states such as Syria, Iraq, and Iran."A History of the Modern Middle East" explains the deep historical currents flowing beneath today's headlines, making it essential reading for anyone s
An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Shriver, Donald W., Jr., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, Our century has witnessed violence on an unprecedented scale, in wars that have torn deep into the fabric of national and international life. And as we can see in the recent strife in Bosnia, genocide in Rwanda, and the ongoing struggle to control nuclear weaponry, ancient enmities continue to threaten the lives of masses of human beings. As never before, the question is urgent and practical: How can nations--or ethnic groups, or races--after long, bitter struggles, learn to live side by side in peace? In An Ethic for Enemies, Donald W. Shriver, Jr., President Emeritus of Union Theological Seminary, argues that the solution lies in our capacity to forgive. Taking forgiveness out of its traditional exclusive association with personal religion and morality, Shriver urges us to recognize its importance in the secular political arena. The heart of the book examines three powerful and moving cases from recent American history--our postwar dealings with Germany, with Japan, and our continuing domestic problem with race relations--cases in which acts of forgiveness have had important political consequences. Shriver traces how postwar Germany, in its struggle to break with its political past, progressed from denial of a Nazi past, to a formal acknowledgement of the crimes of Nazi Germany, to providing material compensation for survivors of the Holocaust. He also examines the efforts of Japan and the United States, over time and across boundaries of race and culture, to forgive the wrongs committed by both peoples during the Pacific War. And finally he offers a fascinating discussion of the role of forgiveness in the American civil rights movement. He shows, for instance, that even Malcolm Xrecognized the need to move from contempt for the integrationist ideal to a more conciliatory, repentant stance toward Civil Rights leaders. Malcolm came to see that only through forgiveness could the separate voices of the African-American movement work together to achieve their goals. If mutual forgiveness was a radical thought in , Shriver reminds us that it has yet to be realized in . "We are a long way from ceasing to hold the sins of the ancestors against their living children," he writes. Yet in this poignant volume, we discover how, by forgiving, enemies can progress and have progressed toward peace. A timely antidote to today's political conflicts, An Ethic for Enemies challenges to us to confront the hatreds that cripple society and threaten to destroy the global village.
The Ender Quartet Set: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead,
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Card, Orson Scott, PUBLISHER: Tor Books, This boxed set contains "Ender's Game," "Speaker for the Dead," "Xenocide," and "Children of the Mind." "Ender's Game" Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training. Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. "Speaker for the Dead" In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth. "Xenocide" The war for survival of the planet Lusitania will be fought in the hearts of a child named Gloriously Bright. On Lusitania, Ender found a world where humans and Pequeninos and the Hive Queen could all live together; where three very different intelligent species could find common ground at last. Or so he thought. Lusitania also harbors the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which the Pequeninos require in order to become adults. The Starways Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire planet, and all who live there. The Fleet is on its way, a second xenocide seems inevitable. "Children of the Mind" The planet Lusitania is home to three sentient species: the Pequeninos; a larg