moral courage
From a Clear Blue Sky. Timothy Knatchbull
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Knatchbull, Timothy, PUBLISHER: Hutchinson Radius, A powerful survivor's account of the IRA bomb that killed the author's 14-year-old twin brother, his grandparents and a family friend and was published on the 30th anniversary of the atrocity. On the August bank holiday weekend in the UK in -year-old Timothy Knatchbull went out on a boat trip off the shore of Mullaghmore in County Sligo, Ireland. It was a trip that would cost four lives -- and change his own for ever. The IRA bomb that exploded in their boat killed Knatchbull's grandfather Lord Mountbatten (cousin of the Queen), his grandmother Lady Brabourne, his twin brother Nicholas, and local teenager Paul Maxwell. In telling this story for the first time, Knatchbull is not only revisiting the terrible events he and his family lived through, but also writing an intensely personal account of human triumph over tragedy. For thirty years, Knatchbull has lived with the echoes of that day: the death of the twin from whom he had been inseparable; the loss of his adored grandparents, whose funerals along with his twin's he and his parents were too injured to attend; the recovery from physical wounds; and the emotional legacy that proved harder to endure. In From A Clear Blue Sky""Timothy Knatchbull delves into his past, present and future, and reveals a story of courage and fortitude as he, his family, and their English and Irish friends dealt with the shocking assassinations and their aftermath. Taking place in Ireland at the height of the Troubles, it gives a compelling insight into that period of Irish history. But more importantly it brings home that although tragedy can strike at any moment, the human spirit is able to recover and evolve over time. This book about truth and reconciliation, unflinching in its detail, asks searching questions about why human beings inflict misery on others, and holds lessons about how we can learn to forgive, to heal and to move on. It will resonate with readers the world over.
The Power of Purpose: Living Well by Doing Good
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Temes, Peter S., PUBLISHER: Three Rivers Press (CA), "The Power of Purpose" begins with a simple but remarkable statement: "The more you focus on helping others, the more you will succeed in reaching your own goals." Peter S. Temes builds on this fundamental insight to share a simple plan for living with the truest and most enduring kind of happiness. At the heart of "The Power of Purpose" are the "three levels of thinking." At the first level, we ask, Who am I? and What do I want? At the second level, we ask, Who do other people think I am? How do I look to them? But the real magic happens when we hit the third level, forgetting about ourselves and asking the questions that lend a powerful sense of purpose to our lives: How do others look to themselves? How can I help others become the people they want to be? To help us along the way, Temes, who teaches humanities at Columbia University, draws on the wisdom of great thinkers including Aristotle, Soren Kierkegaard, and Abraham Lincoln; the life lessons of great achievers ranging from Mother Teresa to Michael Jordan; and home truths he's gathered from his parents, his grandparents, and his three children. From all these sources and from his own life of great personal accomplishment, Temes identifies the essential knowledge that brings people happiness and success. He cites Aristotle's notion that happiness is not a psychological state but a moral one, resulting from doing good in the world. Temes also believes in the pivotal importance of trust and team-building in every area of life, from the family to the workplace to the street corner. "The Power of Purpose" is a map for finding the confidence and power, the opportunities and occasions, and--most important--the techniques and strategies for centering your relationships and work on helping others. It is a book with a point of view: the clearest path to your own success and happiness lies in helping others get to where they want to go. "From the Hardcover edition."
Biographical Supplement and Index
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Oxford University Press / Freund, David M., PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, To fully appreciate our country's history and the problems and possibilities we face as a nation on the eve of a new century, Americans--young and old--need to know that the fascinating heritage of African Americans begins not with the slave ships of Portugal and Spain, but with the richly diverse tribes, cultures, and ancient civilizations of the African continent. We need to understand that the long journey for freedom and equality for all Americans began well before the Civil War, or even the Revolutionary War, and that the journey continues to this day. Now history's missing pages at last come to life with the publication of The Young Oxford History of African Americans. Spanning five centuries, this extraordinary 11-volume series paints a vibrant and compelling portrait of the lives of African Americans. Written by distinguished American historians, the series sets a new standard for accuracy, balance, and breadth of scholarship in a reference aimed at the general reader. The lively narrative is rich in gripping first person accounts and short character sketches that invite readers to relive history as African Americans experienced it. From the first black Africans brought as slaves into the Caribbean islands and the colonies of Central and South America to today's black filmmakers and politicians, the stories of remarkable individuals of great courage and ability are told, but also those of ordinary men and women whose struggles and accomplishments continue to shape history. Whatever their race or background, readers come away with a deeper appreciation of African Americans as a people who have long shared in the aspiration and expectations of their fellow citizens, but who have done so with a unique history and a unique set of barriers to overcome. Unrivaled in breadth or depth, The Young Oxford History of African Americans is an unforgettable portrait of a people. It is an essential reference not only for students of African-American history, but also for libraries, teachers, parents, and all of us who strive to understand the struggles and sacrifices of the American past, the formidable challenges of our present, and our brightest hopes for the future.
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.
Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Keith, Philip, PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Press, "This is the incredible true story of a brave military unit in Vietnam that risked everything to rescue an outnumbered troop under heavy fire--and the thirty-nine-year odyssey to recognize their bravery." Deep in the jungles of Vietnam, Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, the famed Blackhorse Regiment, was a specialized cavalry outfit equipped with tanks and armored assault vehicles. On the morning of March , they began hearing radio calls from an infantry unit four kilometers away that had stumbled into a hidden North Vietnamese Army stronghold. Outnumbered at least six to one, the ninety-man American company was quickly surrounded, pinned down, and fighting for its existence. Helicopters could not penetrate the dense jungle, and artillery and air support could not be targeted effectively. The company was fated to be worn down and eventually all killed or captured. Overhearing the calls for help on his radio, Captain John Poindexter, Alpha Troop's twenty-five-year-old commander, realized that his outfit was the only hope for the trapped company. It just might be possible that they could "bust" enough jungle by nightfall to reach them. Not making the attempt was deemed unacceptable, so he ordered his men to "saddle up." With the courage and determination that makes legends out of ordinary men, they effected a daring rescue and fought a pitched battle--at considerable cost. Many brave deeds were done that day and Captain Poindexter tried to make sure his men were recognized for their actions. Thirty years later Poindexter was made aware that his award recommendations and even the records of the battle had somehow gone missing. Thus began the second phase of this remarkable story: a "battle" to ensure that his brave men's accomplishments would never be forgotten again. The full circle was completed when President Obama stepped to the podium on October , to award the Alpha Troop with the Presidential Unit Citation: the highest combat award that can be given to a military unit.
Before Roe: Abortion Policy in the States
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Nossiff, Rosemary, PUBLISHER: Temple University Press, Few issues in contemporary U.S. politics have remained on the public agenda so long and so divisively as abortion policy. The landmark Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, which held that laws prohibiting first trimester abortions were illegal because they violated a woman's right to privacy, still generates heated controversy today, a quarter of a century after it was made. The seeds of that controversy were sown in the seven years immediately preceding Roe, when state legislatures tried to reconcile religious opposition to abortion and individuals' civil liberties. In this groundbreaking book, Rosemary Nossiff examines the forces that shaped abortion policy during those years, and the ways in which states responded to them. To provide in-depth analysis while still looking broadly at the picture, she studies New York, which passed the most permissive abortion bill in the country, and Pennsylvania, which passed one of the most restrictive. That these two states, which share similar demographic, political, and economic characteristics, should reach two such different outcomes provides a perfect case study for observing political dynamics at the state level. Nossiff examines the medical, religious, and legal discourses employed on both sides of the debate, as well as the role played by feminist discourse. She looks at the role of the political parties in the campaigns, as well as such interest groups as the National Council of Catholic Bishops, the Clergy Consultation Service, the National Organization for Women, and the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. In addition, she analyzes the strategies used by both sides, as well as partisan and institutionaldevelopments that facilitated success or failure. Finally, in the Epilogue, she assesses the Roe decision and its aftermath, including an analysis of the pro-life movement in Pennsylvania. As the author remarks, "Without question people's positions on abortion are shaped by a myriad of social, moral, and economic factors. But ultimately abortion policy is shaped in the political arena. This book examines how one of the most intimate decisions a woman makes, whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy, has become one of the most politicized issues in contemporary American politics".
Walden and Civil Disobedience
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Thoreau, Henry David, PUBLISHER: Sterling Publishing Co Inc, This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. edition. Excerpt:...I purposely talked to him as if he were a philosopher, or desired to be one. I should be glad if all the meadows on the earth were left in a wild state, if that were the consequence of men's beginning to redeem themselves. A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture. But alas the culture of an Irishman is an enterprise to be undertaken with a sort of moral bog hoe. I told him, that as he worked so hard at bogging, he required thick boots and stout clothing, which yet were soon soiled and worn out, but I wore light shoes and thin clothing, which cost not half so much, though he might think that I was dressed like a gentleman (which, however, was not the case), and in an hour or two, without labor, but as a recreation, I could, if I wished, catch as many fish as I should want for two days, or earn enough money to support me a week. If he and his family would live simply, they might all go a-huckleberrying in the summer for their amusement. John heaved a sigh at this, and his wife stared with arms a-kimbo, and both appeared to be wondering if they had capital enough to begin such a course with, or arithmetic enough to carry it through. It was sailing by dead reckoning to them, and they saw not clearly how to make their port so; therefore I suppose they still take life bravely, after their fashion, face to face, giving it tooth and nail, not having skill to split its massive columns with any fine entering wedge, and rout it in detail;--thinking to deal with it roughly, as one should handle a thistle. But they fight at an overwhelming disadvantage, --living, John Field, alas without arithmetic. and failing so. "Do you ever fish?" I asked. "Oh yes, I catch a mess now and then when I am lying by; good perch I...
John Keats:,
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Bate, W. Jackson / Bate, Walter Jackson, PUBLISHER: Belknap Press, The life of Keats provides a unique opportunity for the study of literary greatness and of what permits or encourages its development. Its interest is deeply human and moral, in the most capacious sense of the words. In this authoritative biography--the first full-length life of Keats in almost forty years--the man and the poet are portrayed with rare insight and sympathy. In spite of a scarcity of factual data for his early years, the materials for Keats's life are nevertheless unusually full. Since most of his early poetry has survived, his artistic development can be observed more closely than is possible with most writers; and there are times during the period of his greatest creativity when his personal as well as his artistic life can be followed week by week. The development of Keats's poetic craftsmanship proceeds simultaneously with the steady growth of qualities of mind and character. Mr. Bate has been concerned to show the organic relationship between the poet's art and his larger, more broadly humane development. Keats's great personal appeal--his spontaneity, vigor, playfulness, and affection--are movingly recreated; at the same time, his valiant attempt to solve the problem faced by all modern poets when they attempt to achieve originality and amplitude in the presence of their great artistic heritage is perceptively presented. In discussing this matter, Mr. Bate says, "The pressure of this anxiety and the variety of reactions to it constitute one of the great unexplored factors in the history of the arts since . And in no major poet, near the beginning of the modern era, is this problem met more directly than it is in Keats. The way in which Keats wassomehow able, after the age of twenty-two, to confront this dilemma, and to transcend it, has fascinated every major poet who has used the English language since Keats's death and also every major critic since the Victorian era." Mr. Bate has availed himself of all new biographical materials, published and unpublished, and has used them selectively and without ostentation, concentrating on the things that were meaningful to Keats. Similarly, his discussions of the poetry are not buried beneath the controversies of previous critics. He approaches the poems freshly and directly, showing their relation to Keats's experience and emotions, to premises and values already explored in the biographical narrative. The result is a book of many dimensions, not a restricted critical or biographical study but a fully integrated whole.
Dead Man's Touch
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Ehrman, Kit, PUBLISHER: Poisoned Pen Press, What do you do when everything you've held to be true, when your entire life, in fact, turns out to be a lie? Do you run away? Start over? Create a new truth? This is the dilemma faced by what twenty-two-year old Stephen Cline. Bruised in body and psyche from his adventures in At Risk, Steve gets another blow in Dead Man's Touch, the sudden death of his estranged father in an automobile accident. At the funeral, Steve's disgruntled older brother calls him a bastard--and means it. Literally. Steve, he reveals, is the product of an affair. Confronting his socialite mother, Steve learns that his real father is a horse trainer, Christopher J. Kessler. Curiosity gets the best of Steve, who's on leave from his job at Foxdale stables, so he heads for the Maryland track where he can find Kessler. The trainer soon notices that Steve is shadowing him and accuses Steve of working for a group of men intent on pressuring him to throw select races in a lucrative race-fixing scam. When Kessler learns that he's a father and Steve is his son, he recruits Steve to work undercover at his training barn to thwart the fix by discovering who's been doping the most promising horses. As Steve settles in, he gets caught up in the unique lifestyle inherent to the backside. Everyone who works there lives and breathes it--the hopes and the dreams along with the shattering disappointments--until the work itself becomes a way of life. For a man recovering his health, and his courage after an earlier brush with the kind of toughs who can make a life with horses a nightmare, the backside is an inspiration. But it is not a life without peril -- some men are willing to do anything to get the righthorse under the wire first. Anything from threats to violence to murder. As Steve puts pressure on the bad guys, a young woman is found dead in a horse's stall, and Steve becomes the prime suspect in her murder. He must now discover the ringleader's identity to keep from being put in jail, or worse, in the ground. "The smart money could make the unusually likable protagonist a favorite in the Francis Stakes" said Kirkus Reviews of Steve Cline's first appearance in 's At Risk, the start of a promising career for him and for author Kit Ehrman. Publishers Weekly adds: "Both horse lovers and crime fans who've never stepped into a stirrup will relish Ehrman's riveting debut."
Finding George Orwell in Burma
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Larkin, Emma, PUBLISHER: Penguin Press, Over the years the American writer Emma Larkin has spent traveling in Burma, she's come to know all too well the many ways this brutal police state can be described as "Orwellian." The life of the mind exists in a state of siege in Burma, and it long has. But Burma's connection to George Orwell is not merely metaphorical; it is much deeper and more real. Orwell's mother was born in Burma, at the height of the British raj, and Orwell was fundamentally shaped by his experiences in Burma as a young man working for the British Imperial Police. When Orwell died, the novel-in-progress on his desk was set in Burma. It is the place George Orwell's work holds in Burma today, however, that most struck Emma Larkin. She was frequently told by Burmese acquaintances that Orwell did not write one book about their country--his first novel, "Burmese Days"--but in fact he wrote three, the "trilogy" that included "Animal Farm" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four." When Larkin quietly asked one Burmese intellectual if he knew the work of George Orwell, he stared blankly for a moment and then said, "Ah, you mean the prophet " In one of the most intrepid political travelogues in recent memory, Emma Larkin tells of the year she spent traveling through Burma using the life and work of George Orwell as her compass. Going from Mandalay and Rangoon to poor delta backwaters and up to the old hill-station towns in the mountains of Burma's far north, Larkin visits the places where Orwell worked and lived, and the places his books live still. She brings to vivid life a country and a people cut off from the rest of the world, and from one another, by the ruling military junta and its vast network of spies and informers. Using Orwell enables her to show, effortlessly, the weight of the colonial experience on Burma today, the ghosts of which are invisible and everywhere. More important, she finds that the path she charts leads her to the people who have found ways to somehow resist the soul-crushing effects of life in this most cruel police state. And George Orwell's moral clarity, hatred of injustice, and keen powers of observation serve as the author's compass in another sense too: they are qualities she shares and they suffuse her book--the keenest and finest reckoning with life in this police state that has yet been written. A brave and revelatory reconnaissance of modern Burma, one of the world's grimmest and most shuttered police states, using as its compass the life and work of George Orwell, the man many in Burma call simply "the prophet"
The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Writings
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Emerson, Ralph Waldo / Robinson, David M., PUBLISHER: Beacon Press (MA), The first collection of Emerson's spiritual writings, published for the 200th anniversary of the writer's birth Matthew Arnold once described Ralph Waldo Emerson as "the friend and aider of all those who would live in the spirit." Arnold's comment captured the impact that Emerson had as a teacher of a new form of spirituality in the nineteenth century. Emerson proposed a new religious vision that made the spiritual life freshly accessible to people. In our current era, Emerson continues to speak with a compelling voice. Known best in the twenty-first century as a literary innovator and early architect of American intellectual culture, Emerson's writings still offer spiritual sustenance to the thoughtful reader. The Spiritual Emerson brings together the essays and lectures that best articulate Emerson's spiritual vision, and promise the greatest relevance to today's reader. Compiled and introduced by David M. Robinson, one of the leading authorities on Emerson, The Spiritual Emerson will be both a portrait of Emerson as a spiritual teacher and a sourcebook for all those who find his ideas and convictions useful in their own efforts to live in the spirit. "This collection brings together for the first time Emerson's most important writings on spiritual themes, along with a discerning and eminently readable introduction by one of the foremost authorities on Emerson's religious thought." --Lawrence Buell, Harvard University, author of LITERARY TRANSCENDENTALISM and EMERSON "Simply the best selection ever made from the spiritual writings of America's most influential sage. Combining familiar essays with the oft-neglected, from both the early and the laterEmerson, Robinson reveals the paradoxes that shaped one soul then and continue to shape many today. For all who still care for the soul, essential reading." --John Buehrens, author of UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE "THE SPIRITUAL EMERSON is a superb and timely collection, one that will help to elucidate and consolidate our understanding of Emerson's spirituality on the occasion of his 200th birthday celebration. Accessibly framed and introduced by David Robinson, our premier scholar of the religious context and character of Emersonian Transcendentalism, this elegantly appointed volume will help open the way to a fuller understanding of the heart of Emerson's thought. Drawn together chronologically from every period of Emerson's long and productive career, the essays contained here provide a sound basis for a better understanding of the life-long evolution of his religious and moral philosophy." --Alan Hodder, Hampshire College "David Robinson is our leading interpreter of the later Emerson's pragmatic turn toward an 'ever greater conviction that ethical action is] not a by-product of religious belief, but the very core of religion itself.' Robinson has for years been calling attention to Emerson as a religious figure, not just a
Mama's Heart
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Boomhower, Mary J., PUBLISHER: Xlibris Corporation, I‛ll Carry You My Child ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I just remember praying so silently, "Dear Jesus, will you please take my trembling hand?" Lord can‛t you see, I‛m losing all of my courage, I‛m weak, my legs are shaking, and I can barely stand. I know that you see this door in front of me, my precious daughter is resting in peace on the other side. I am just so afraid of seeing what I most want to see, "Lord, Do you think, this time, you could carry me inside?" Then Jesus said, "My child you must have forgotten, for this surely isn‛t the very first time. You‛ve had other troubling times in your life, as I did then, I‛ll carry you now, and you will be just fine." I can‛t tell you this won‛t be painful, for it will, there will be things that you won‛t want to see. But someday even painful memories become cherished, and they‛ll remain "deep, in the heart of you and me." Don‛t you remember the day that you followed me child, as we walked lazily along in the sand? There was only "one set of footprints" then, don‛t you know, "my child, I‛ll carry you again?" 18 MARY J. BOOMHOWER Did You See The Angels? ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Danni, "Did you see the angels hovering near, and did you ask them to please go away?" "Did you tell them you would go another time, but that you just couldn‛t go that day?" Danni, "Did you tell them you were on your way home, and that I was counting the minutes to see you?" "Did you tell them your new life had barely begun, and that you still had so many things to do?" Danni, "Did you tell them, that you really loved "The Lord," and you would gladly go to Heaven someday?" "Did you tell them that we hadn‛t said our good-byes, and that you just couldn‛t leave me that way?" Danni, "Did you tell them that your mama wasn‛t that strong," and that I just couldn‛t bear losing my child?" "Did you tell them how we had to hug every day, and how much I would miss your smile " MAMA'S HEART 19 Our Last Cuddle ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ All signs of life were gone from you, when I first saw you that day. The pain that you had suffered, was still on your face, and I wanted so badly to take it away. I needed to wrap my arms around you, and to give you lots of baby kisses. Just the way we did when you were small, and when you had all of those "near misses " I gently blew kisses over your body, while I prayed that you safely made it "home." Then I really thought I heard you say, "Mama, please cuddle me once more, while we‛r
Generosity: An Enhancement
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Powers, Richard, PUBLISHER: Picador USA, A "NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW" NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR The National Book Award-winning author of "The Echo Maker "proves yet again that "no writer of our time dreams on a grander scale or more knowingly captures the zeitgeist." ("The Dallas Morning News"). What will happen to life when science identifies the genetic basis of happiness? Who will own the patent? Do we dare revise our own temperaments? Funny, fast, and magical, Generosity celebrates both science and the freed imagination. In his most exuberant book yet, Richard Powers asks us to consider the big questions facing humankind as we begin to rewrite our own existence. Richard Powers is the author of ten novels, including "Generosity," "Gain," "The Time of Our Singing," "Galatea 2.2," and "Plowing the Dark." "The Echo Maker "won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Powers has received a MacArthur Fellowship and a Lannan Literary Award. He lives in Illinois. Winner of the National Book AwardA "New York Times Book Review "Notable Book of the Year in A "Washington Post "Notable Book of the Year in A Society for Midland Authors Fiction Award Finalist What will happen to life when science identifies the genetic basis of happiness? Who will own the patent? Do we dare revise our own temperaments? Funny, fast, and magical, "Generosity "celebrates both science and the freed imagination. In his most exuberant book yet, Richard Powers asks us to consider the big questions facing humankind as we begin to rewrite our own existence. " Powers'] cerebral new novel offers a chilling examination of the life we're reengineering with our chromosomes and brain chemistry... Powers sticks so closely to the state of current medical science and popular culture that this isn't so much a warning as a diagnosis. And as with any frightening diagnosis, you'll be torn between denial and a desperate urge to talk about it... With "Generosity," Powers has performed a dazzling cross-disciplinary feat, linking the slippery nature of 'creative nonfiction' to the moral conundrums of genetic engineering. Although you might expect a novel so weighted with medical and philosophical arguments to flatten its characters into brittle stereotypes, ultimately that's the most impressive aspect of this meditation on happiness and humanness. As "Generosity" drives toward its surprising conclusion, these characters grow more complex and poignant, increasingly baffled by the challenge and the opportunity of remaking ourselves to our heart's content."--Ron Charles, "The Washington Post Book World" "For the past 20 years or so, Richard Powers seems to have been engaged in a prodigious attempt to redress the imbalance of knowledge that was the subject of C. P. Snow's famous 'Two Cultures' lecture. That, y
Berlin in the Balance: The Blockade, the Airlift, the First
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Parrish, Thomas, PUBLISHER: Da Capo Press, In June , Soviet authorities in Germany announced a land blockade of the American, British, and French sectors of Berlin. Isolated more than one hundred miles within Soviet-occupied territory, western Berlin was in danger of running out of coal, food, and the courage to stand up to Joseph Stalin.As "Berlin in the Balance" recounts, this crisis was a turning-point for U.S. policy. Just three years earlier, the Soviet Union had been an ally and Berlin the target of American bombers. In Winston Churchill had ignited protests by calling for an Anglo-American alliance against the USSR. The Berlin blockade made Churchill's "iron curtain" through Europe an inescapable reality.Led by Harry S. Truman, the Western Allies refused to back away from Berlin. Instead, they took to the air, packing passenger planes with coal, potatoes, flour, and other necessities. Not even the commanders of the year-old U.S. Air Force believed this fleet could supply western Berlin for long. Its main airport was squeezed among apartment buildings. Autumn would bring blinding fogs. And nobody had ever tried to supply a city of millions by air."Berlin in the Balance "tells the full, gripping story of this critical conflict--how it developed and how it played out. Noted historian Thomas Parrish shows us the crisis through the eyes of Truman, Stalin, and other leaders. We hear Berliners cheer the arrival of each "raisin bomber"; the planes' roar was assurance that the democratic powers had not abandoned them. Through sources made available only after the fall of the USSR, we learn how Soviet leaders planned their strategy to drive out the West, what they feared, and what they hoped to achieve."Berlin in theBalance" spotlights a different kind of air force heroism--flying heavy transport planes in weather so bad "the birds walked," harassed by Soviet fighters but never firing a shot. Under the decisive leadership of General William H. Tunner, crews took off every three minutes around the clock. Soldiers rushed to maintain the airplanes and runways, master a new radar system, even build a new airport. The operation depended on support from Frankfurt to London to Montana, on the sacrifices of German civilians and the boldness of French saboteurs. Using archives and fresh interviews, Parrish details the full scope and success of "Operation Vittles."The Berlin airlift stopped Stalin's expansion in Europe. It helped Truman win his upset election in . And it set the course of East-West conflict for the next forty years. More than sixty U.S. and allied fliers died in this great operation, keeping a besieged city fueled, fed, and free. "Berlin in the Balance" is a masterful chronicle of this crucial, stirring saga.
With Pen and Voice: A Critical Anthology of
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Logan, Shirley Wilson, PUBLISHER: Southern Illinois University Press, "O woman, woman upon you I call; for upon your exertions almost entirely depends whether the rising generation shall be any thing more than we have been or not. O woman, woman your example is powerful, your influence great."--Maria W. Stewart, "An Address Delivered Before the Afric-American Female Intelligence Society of Boston" () Here--in the only collection of speeches by nineteenth-century African-American women--is the battle of words these brave women waged to address the social ills of their century. While there have been some scattered references to the unique roles these early "race women" played in effecting social change, until now few scholars have considered the rhetorical strategies they adopted to develop their powerful arguments. In this chronological anthology, Shirley Wilson Logan highlights the public addresses of these women, beginning with Maria W. Stewart's speech at Franklin Hall in , believed to be the first delivered to an audience of men and women by an American-born woman. In her speech, she focused on the plight of the Northern free black. Sojourner Truth spoke in at the Akron, Ohio, Women's Rights Convention not only for the rights of black women but also for the rights of all oppressed nineteenth-century women. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper struggled with the conflict between universal suffrage and suffrage for black men. Anna Julia Cooper chastised her unique audience of black Episcopalian clergy for their failure to continue the tradition of the elevation of womanhood initiated by Christianity and especially for their failure to support the struggling Southern black woman. Ida B. Wells's rhetoric targeted mob violence directed at Southern black men. Her speech was delivered less than a year after her inaugural lecture on this issue--following a personal encounter with mob violence in Memphis. Fannie Barrier Williams and Victoria Earle Matthews advocated social and educational reforms to improve the plight of Southern black women. These speeches--all delivered between and --are stirring proof that, despite obstacles of race and gender, these women still had the courage to mount the platform in defense of the oppressed. Introductory essays focus on each speaker's life and rhetoric, considering the ways in which these women selected evidence and adapted language to particular occasions, purposes, and audiences in order to persuade. This analysis of the rhetorical contexts and major rhetorical tactics in the speeches aids understanding of both the speeches and the skill of the speakers. A rhetorical timeline serves as a point of reference. Historically grounded, this book provides a black feminist perspective on significant events of the nineteenth century and reveals how black women of that era influenced and were influenced by the social problems they addressed. "A government which can protect and defend its citizens from wrong and outrage and doe
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
Men's Devotional Bible-NIV: With Daily Devotions from Godly
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Buursma, Dirk R. / Rzoska, Linda, PUBLISHER: Zondervan Publishing Company, The devotional Bible over 1 million men have turned toDevotions written by and for today's Christian manA full year of inspiration and spiritual growthIn the most read, most trusted NIV translationA Bible for, by, and about today's manWhether you're a father or grandfather, singled or married, the NIV Men's Devotional Bible is written for you. Fifty-two weeks of devotions--an entire year of insight and perspectives from over 100 contributors from all ages and walks of life--will challenge you, deepen your understanding of God, and help you serve him more faithfully. The topics are broad, the issues important: Commitment. Friendship. Money. Anger. Disappointment. Fatherhood. Stress. Integrity. Servanthood. Work. Worship. Day by day, the NIV Men's Devotional Bible challenges you to be a man of courage and vision, giving you the tools to develop a powerful and productive life of faith in Christ.FeaturesA full year of weekday and weekend devotions located near the designated Scripture provides spiritual growth and inspirationDevotional material written for men by over 100 well-known Christian men, including: Tom Landry, Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Phillip Yancey, Chuck Swindoll, Ben Carson, Charles Colson, and James DobsonSubject index offers easy access to topics addressed in the devotionsAuthor index with biographical information about each contributorBook introductions provide background and perspective on the Biblical narrativeDouble-column formatPresentation pageAn entire year of devotions that challenge you to deepen your faithWhat kind of man would you like to be? Do you ever wish you had a wise mentor to be with you in the trenches, offering fresh perspective on the challengesyou face at home, at work, and in the community? The NIV Men's Devotional Bible is a spiritual resource and daily compassion, offering you a higher perspective on the issues you grapple with in a down-to-earth world.Fifty-two weeks of devotions take you through one year, increasing your understanding of how God works in your life and what he wants to accomplish through you. Each weekday you'll read a brief devotional message together with a nearby Scripture passage. When the week is over, the "Weekending" feature combines a short reflective devotion with Scripture readings for Saturday and Sunday. Topics are wide and varied, offering fresh perspective from a variety of Christian men who have dealt with the issues you face every day. You'll discover the treasure of biblical insight that bring today's troubles and triumphs into eternal perspective.NIV Men's Devotional Bible draws on the rich insights of over 100 contributors of all ages, from all walks of life. You'll sit down with such classic writers as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, and A.W. Tozer. And you'll savor the contemporary insight of Charles Colson, James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll, Ben Carson, Dave Dravecky, Charles Stanley, Bill Hybels, Tom Landry, Philip Yancey, and many others. Day by day, they'l
Reluctant Witness: Memoirs from the Last Year of the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Mahoney, Brian H. / Mahoney, James J., PUBLISHER: Trafford Publishing, The late James Mahoney went overseas in the spring of as the leader of one of the four bomb squadrons in a B-24 bomb group (the original 492nd) which endured extraordinary losses for 89 days of operation before being disbanded. The enduring mystery of why such an exceptionally well qualified and prepared group suffered so singularly is one of many significant themes he addresses in his 52 vignettes. Mahoney was reassigned to a bomb group with much better luck (the 467th), and finished the war as their Deputy Commander. As both a 'man among men' and a recognized natural leader, he was positioned to note character and ability, and took it as his charge to develop both of these in the course of administering to the technical and demanding business of a combat organization comprising souls. Later in life, wanting to make sense of what he experienced and to record the terrific sacrifice of his peers, he distilled and organized his memories. Overcoming his natural reticence to show his hand emotionally, and fearful that grisly accounts might register as sensational horror instead of sobering lesson, he labored carefully to build for his readers a rich context for his 'war stories'. These memoirs take the reader through the methodology and equipment of aviation and strategic bombing in the era before stand-off weaponry, when hundreds of planes at a time, each with ten-man crews, flew in unpressurized planes through flak and fighter filled skies for hours at a time at 40 degrees below zero, to bomb targets in Hitler-occupied Europe. He introduces the reader to his acquaintances and friends, commanders and charges - a range of memorable rascals, unforgettableheroes, and ordinary mortals showing their true mettle and courage under dire circumstances. Jim Mahoney's account of his 13 months in combat is an engaging mix of timeless morals and enduring humor. The big themes are laid out with common sense, while the practical joke, the stroke of genius, or personal quirk are offered as clear windows to the host of characters and their relationships. These certainly capture the fact and flavor of the daylight bombing campaign over northern Europe and make a contribution to the historical record, but they also transcend that specific time and place, drawing the readers in any era into human drama, played out in all of its variety in the pressure-cooker of wartime. The son's contribution has been to document some of the more unusual aspects of his father's account, so that these can be received as more than just precious memoir - as contributions to the historical record.This has entailed many interviews, travel to remnants of his father's Rackheath and North Pickenham bases in East Anglia, and contemplation of the horrible effectiveness of aerial bombardment on several of the Mighty Eighth Air Force's 'ground zeros' in Germany. Additionally, the son supplies the reader with a variety of material designed to make the dated techn
Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Cagan, Joanna / Mause de, Neil / de Mause, Neil, PUBLISHER: Common Courage Press, Are you a sports fan distraught over seeing your home team move to another city? Or a happy sports fan whose city has just lured that team to your home turf with a brand new stadium? Or maybe you don't follow sports, but as a taxpayer are decrying cutbacks in school funding and other services. Whoever you are, state and local officials have thrown you a financial curve ball. While President Reagan made famous the false and chiding comment about "welfare queens" who ride around in Cadillacs, Field of Schemes introduces you to some real welfare kings -- who not only prefer BMWs, thank you, but also know the meaning of fun: -- A millionaire pizza baron wants more corporate luxury seating than his historic old ballpark provides, so he demands a new stadium at taxpayer expense, saying the old one is falling down. A group of grass-roots activists reveal that his engineering reports are faked, and that it would be far cheaper to renovate the old ballpark -- but the city and state go ahead with the project anyway. -- A used-car salesman turned baseba11 team owner promises to pay for a new stadium out of his own pocket, if the state government just agrees to move a highway to clear the land. Several backroom deals later, the state is paying to move the highway and raising a quarter-billion dollars towards the stadium costs, -- and the team owner is getting his stadium scott-free. -- The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft wants to buy a football team, but only if the state will build him a new stadium first. So he pays the state $4 million to hold an emergency referendum -- then spends millions more in advertising to make sure he wins. In exchange, he gets over $400 million in statetax money to build his team's new home. -- When an economically depressed city is faced with losing its football team, it scrambles to allocate $220 million for a new, state-of-the-art stadium. The next day, the city school system announces that it plans to lay off up to 160 teachers and eliminate interscholastic athletics. -- A Sunbelt town builds a new arena at public expense in order to lure expansion basketball and hockey franchises to the region. Just nine years later, the city is forced to build two new arenas, one for each sport, to keep the teams from bolting town. Total cost: almost $400 million, including $50 million for the soon-to-be-abandoned first arena. From Seattle Sea Hawks owner Paul Allen of Microsoft to New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, from Tom Monaghan of Domino's Pizza who destroyed Tiger Stadium to the building of Camden Yards, the stories are all here in a uniquely accessible journalistic style that brings you up close and personal to the moguls -- to the activists protecting your wallet. You'll be gripped by the behind-the scenes threats and political machinations in this play-by-play draining of billions of dollars from the public treasury. Between and , U.S. cities spent some $1.5 billion on building or r