Regarded as one of the most vocal, well-traveled, and controversial statesmen of the nineteenth century, antebellum politician Henry Stuart Foote played a central role in a vast array of pivotal events. Despite Foote’s unique mark on history, until now no comprehensive biography existed. Ben Wynne fills this gap in his examination of the life of this gifted and volatile public figure in The Man Who Punched Jefferson Davis: The Political Life of Henry S. Foote, Southern Unionist. An eyewitness to many of the historical events of his lifetime, Foote, an opinionated native Virginian, helped to raise money for the Texas Revolution, provided political counsel for the Lone Star Republic’s leadership before annexation, and published a 400-page history of the region. In 1847, Mississippi elected him to the Senate, where he promoted cooperation with the North during the Compromise of 1850. One of the South’s most outspoken Unionists, he infuriated many of his southern colleagues with his explosive temperament and unorthodox ideas that quickly established him as a political outsider. His temper sometimes led to physical altercations, including at least five duels, pulling a gun on fellow senator Thomas Hart Benton during a legislative session, and engaging in run-ins with other politicians—notably a fistfight with his worst political enemy, Jefferson Davis. He left the Senate in 1851 to run for governor of Mississippi on a pro-Union platform and defeated Davis by a small margin. Several years later, Foote moved to Nashville, was elected to the Confederate Congress after Tennessee seceded, and continued his political sparring with the Confederate president. From Foote’s failed attempt to broker an unauthorized peace agreement with the Lincoln government and his exile to Europe to the publication of his personal memoir and his appointment as director of the United States mint in New Orleans, Wynne constructs an entertaining and nuanced portrait of a singular man who constantly challenged the conventions of southern and national politics.
A story full of elemental magic It tells a tale about how an emissary from the Spirit of Nature arrives in the early days of industrialization, in the form of a young troll, to judge humanity's fitness for survival, or to doom us to extinction. The evil intrigues of men bent on eradicating the last of the trolls are offset by profound epiphanies as Ogden grows and matures from a callow babe in the woods into a burly troll who communes with the spirits of Nature. Through many adventures he learns the similarities and differences between the black magic of men conjured through deceit and clever technology and the life-affirming magic of Nature expressed in ways mysterious and infinite. Ogden is a unique fantasy novel set in the 18th century, full of magical creatures, learning, and love.
Representing Texas is a compendium of biographies of the men and women who have represented the state in the United States and Confederate Congresses. These biographies include information about the representative's birth, education, marriages, family, experiences, profession, elections, congressional record, and death records including burial site. In addition to the biographies there are lists of U.S. Senators by succession, U.S. Representatives by district, Representatives and Senators to the Confederate Congresses, Confederate Congressional Districts by county, Confederate Congress session dates, U.S. Congress session dates, and U.S. Congressional Districts by county. A complete set of U.S. Senator election returns and U.S. Representative election returns from Texas completes the work. Also included is a bibliography. The work was completed following interviews with living ex-members of Congress and current, sitting members of Congress from Texas. The work is the only one to address the topic specific to Texas and is a valuable reference for any Texas library and any history or political researcher.
From the bestselling author of Agent Zigzag. The thrilling true story of the greatest and most successful wartime deception ever attempted A Richard & Judy Book Club selection
Minnesotans are a tough lot, capable of pulling a house six miles by muscle alone or giving birth to a sixteen-pound boy. In 1921, young Phoebe Fairgrave set a parachute world record, stepping off the wing of a biplane 15,200 feet above the Twin Cities. In 1962, the last powerhouse Gophers football team brought home the Rose Bowl trophy. A year later, thirteen-year-old Jean Webb of Minneapolis risked arrest and refused to leave a segregated restaurant. In 1979, Gerry Spiess crossed the Atlantic alone in a 10-foot sailboat he built in his White Bear Lake garage. These inspiring stories and dozens more, culled from the Star Tribune newspaper archives, are presented in their original form by author Ben Welter, along with in-depth background, fresh interviews and more than seventy-five historic photos.
In this innovative study, Ben Jones argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few "e;success stories"e;, Jones chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court, and organizations based on family and kinships obligations that represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation.Groundbreaking and critical in turn, Beyond the State offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world. It should appeal to anyone interested in African development.
Britain in the long nineteenth century developed an increasing interest in science of all kinds. The essays in this collection uncover this symbiotic relationship between literature and science.
Born with a silver knife in his back, Ben Wright's exploits and ordeals in his rites of passage toward self-discovery, range from the extreme to the bizarre. His adventures were enhanced and refined by extraordinary encounters with such Twentieth Century luminaries as John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Admiral Ruthven Libby, Jonas Salk, G. Gordon Liddy, Ray Charles, Paul Robeson, Colonel Robbie Reisner, Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, "Free-Wheeling" Frank Reynolds, Jim Morrison, Richard Brautigan, Michael McClure, Kenneth Rexroth, Robert Graves, Juan Goytisolo, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Claribellle Alegria, and cunning Charlie Bludorn. To escape upper-middle class mind-numbing conformity and ennui, Ben joined the U.S. Navy after graduating with honors from an Ivy League university. He served his country as a commissioned line combat naval officer, was involved with the first SEAL team, and became a court martial, Intelligence officer in the Viet Nam era. Following military service, and after failing as an Episcopalian priest, Ben became a blue-water sailor, survived a North Sea mine-field Force 12, and also engaged in working as an archeologist/mythographer. He worked as an actor in American feature films, radio broadcaster and producer, but was redeemed to near bodhisattvahood in Tibetan Buddhism. He also served in prisons for forty-eight years as an alcohol and drug counselor (himself a recovered alcoholic of thirty-one years sobriety), founding Clarion Call, a foundation to end recidivism through education. So indulge yourself within these pages, savoring these true life adventures of this Twenty-first Century Renaissance Man, and you will be asking for more. Reserve the second volume, Authenticity: Inimitable Quintessential.
Here's the ultimate guide to being the best—and safest—driver possible. And an absolute must for everyone with a learner's permit. Former Top Gear Stig and professional driver Ben Collins shares expert skills culled from a twenty year career as one of the best drivers in the world, famous for racing in the Le Mans series and NASCAR, piloting the Batmobile, and dodging bullets with James Bond. Refined over thousands of hours of elite-level performance in the physics of driving, his philosophy results in greater control and safer, more efficient and fun driving for all skill levels.
Richard Armadale, a recent college graduate, begins working at an environmental consulting firm in southeastern Kentucky. He performs his assignments with great enthusiasm, determined to do whatever is best for people and the environment. However, he meets a very wicked man of high rank, a crooked “scientist” who plunders the earth for as much money as possible without regard to ecological consequences. At this villain’s directive, an empire-like energy company upsets the balance of nature, creating a clash between farmers and coal miners. Richard finds himself caught in the midst of this conflict and bears responsibility for solving a looming water crisis. Ultimately, he must choose sides – miners or farmers – and defeat the plans of the mysterious menace before environmental degradation spells doom for the countryside.
This narrative is a chronological history of the first Lutheran institution of higher learning in the state of North Carolina. Although several individual North Carolina Lutheran congregations established their own private academies during the Church’s first 110 years in the state, it was not until 1855 that the North Carolina Lutheran Synod opened its first “high school of a collegiate character”.
The chapters in this collection respond to the range of interests that have shaped Miéville's fiction from his influential role in contemporary genre debates, to his ability to pose serious philosophical questions about state control, revolutionary struggle, regimes of apartheid, and the function of international law in a globalized world. This collection demonstrates how Miéville's fictions offer a striking example of contemporary literature's ability to imagine alternatives to neoliberal capitalism at a time of crisis for leftist ideas within the political realm.
Ex-undercover cop Marshall Grade is hiding out in California when he learns that federal agent Lucas Cohen has survived a kidnapping. Cohen was Marshall’s ticket into witness protection, and his captors have a simple question: where’s Marshall now? Marshall’s undercover work gave him a long list of enemies, and the enemy in this case is a corrupt businessman named Dexter Vine. Vine’s almost broke, in debt to people even worse than himself, and he wants to settle old scores while he has time. He’s hired Ludo Coltrane—a nonchalant psychopath and part-time bar manager—to find Marshall at any cost. Ludo’s no stranger to killing, but his associate, the cash-strapped ex-con Perry Rhodes, may prove more of a liability than an asset. The question to be answered in Marshall's Law is: what has Marshall done to make Dexter want him dead? And are the contacts from his old life—ex-colleague Lana, and the heroin dealer Henry Lee—prepared to help him, or will they just sell him out? In the thrilling, action-packed Marshall Grade novels by Ben Sanders, an ex-undercover NYPD officer in witness protection is on the run from the criminals he ratted out. But Marshall can’t remain in hiding when people’s lives are at stake and he can do something about it–even if it means putting himself in the crosshairs of every contract killer hired to settle old scores. “For lovers of Jack Reacher and Jason Bourne there is a new gun in town–a noble loner called Marshall Grade.” —Michael Robotham, bestselling author of Suspect (on American Blood)
Norm Smith is arguably the greatest Australian Football coach in history. Smith - who, in 1996, was selected as the coach of the Australian Football League's Team of the Century - led the Melbourne Demons to a staggering six premierships from 1955 to 1964. When it came to football, he was a hard man, brutally honest to his players and an utterly ruthless and fearsome disciplinarian, but this was offset by a gentler, charitable side of his nature which was rarely seen in public. This is his story, and secondarily that of his older brother and fellow coach Len Smith, from their childhood in tough, working-class Northcote during the Depression; Norm as a childhood supporter of Collingwood, the club he would conquer many times over as a man; through his distinguished playing career at Melbourne where he built a reputation as the most unselfish player in the game; his first coaching job at Fitzroy; his triumphant reign at Melbourne, detailing his relationship with his ‘foster son' Ron Barassi, his friendly coaching rivalry with his brother, and his controversial sacking and reinstatement in 1965; to his last coaching job at South Melbourne, which in 1970 he lifted to its first finals series in 25 years, and culminating in his premature death at the age of 57
Luke Abramson, a brilliant cellular biologist who is battling lung cancer, has one joy in life, his ten-year-old granddaughter, Angela. When he learns that Angela has an inoperable brain tumor and is given less than six months to live, Abramson wants to try a new enzyme, Mortality Factor 4 (MORF4), that he believes will kill Angela's tumor. However, the hospital bureaucracy won't let him do it because MORF4 has not yet been approved by the FDA. Knowing that Angela will die before he can get approval of the treatment, Abramson abducts Angela from the hospital with plans to take her to a private research laboratory in Oregon. Luke realizes he's too old and decrepit to flee across the country with his sick granddaughter, chased by the FBI. So he injects himself with a genetic factor that will stimulate his body's production of telomerase, an enzyme that has successfully reversed aging in animal tests. As the chase weaves across the country from one research facility to another, Luke begins to grow physically younger, stronger. He looks and feels the way he did thirty or forty years ago. Yet his lung cancer is not abating; if anything the tumors are growing faster. And Angela is dying"--
Geoffrey Beattie is an extremely successful academic and celebrity psychologist. He was perhaps a less successful father. His obsession with his career and his driving passion for running when he was at home almost destroyed his relationship with his son, but, ironically, it is running that has brought them back together. Chasing Lost Times is the emotional story of a father and son trying to repair a relationship through a shared activity that depends on sheer physical effort, the kind of physical effort that may once have been the source of commonality between father and son in all previous generations but which seems to be absent in the modern world.
Pendant (or pennant) numbers have been used by individual ships of the Royal Navy for purposes of identification for more than 100 years. They were also used in all the navies of the British Empire so that ships could be easily transferred from one navy to another without changing her number. They offer the simplest and clearest way to identify a ship, but until now there has been little in the way of consistent and accurate information, and certainly no single location where you can look up or research complete pendant numbers. The book is designed as an easy-to-use reference work and as such is, in the main, composed of alpha-numeric listings to enable the user to find and identify warships by reference to ship name and to identify specific pendant numbers assigned to that name; or by pendant number to identify specific vessels assigned that number at various times. It begins with an introduction and a brief history of visual signalling used by the Royal Navy before industrialisation, and explains how the large numbers of identical ships being built brought about the need to identify specific ships within fleets to aid signalling and tactical deployment. There follow chapters covering the pendant numbers of the surface fleet and submarines (which stopped using them once boats began to spend so little time on the surface), and then pedant numbers by ship name. A significant chapter lists the pendant numbers assigned to the British Pacific Fleet during the Pacific campaign of WWII together with an explanation of why numbers were assigned, and an examination of missing ‘A’ series pendants known to have been carried by some vessels during the conflict. The BPF numbers have only recently come to light and there is still much that is not known but this section provides the most comprehensive study of available data at this time. There is also an appendix covering deck letters assigned to aviation capable ships. This is a genuinely new and significant reference book and is destined to become a major new aid for Royal Navy warship and auxiliary identification.
Agent Zigzag: One December night in 1942, a Nazi parachutist landed in a Cambridgeshire field. His mission: to sabotage the British war effort. His name was Eddie Chapman, but he would shortly become MI5's Agent Zigzag. Dashing and louche, courageous and unpredictable, inside the traitor was a hero, inside the villain, a man of conscience: the problem for Chapman, his many lovers and his spymasters, was knowing where one ended and the other began. Ben Macintyre weaves together diaries, letters, photographs, memories and top-secret MI5 files to create the exhilarating account of Britain's most sensational double agent. Operation Mincemeat: One overcast April morning in 1943, a fisherman notices a corpse floating in the sea off the coast of Spain. When the body is brought ashore, he is identified as a British soldier, Major William Martin of the Royal Marines. A leather attaché case, secured to his belt, reveals an intelligence goldmine: top-secret documents Allied invasion plans. But Major William Martin never existed. The body is that of a dead Welsh tramp and every single document is fake. Operation Mincemeat is the incredible true story of the most extraordinary deception ever planned by Churchill's spies - an outrageous lie that travelled from a Whitehall basement, all the way to Hitler's desk. Double Cross: D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the Second World War, was a victory of arms. But it was also a triumph for a different kind of operation: one of deceit... At the heart of the deception was the 'Double Cross System', a team of double agents whose bravery, treachery, greed and inspiration succeeded in convincing the Nazis that Calais and Norway, not Normandy, were the targets of the 150,000-strong Allied invasion force. These were not conventional warriors, but their masterpiece of deceit saved thousands of lives. Their codenames were Bronx, Brutus, Treasure, Tricycle and Garbo. This is their story.
Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer James Watt (1736–1819) is best known for his pioneering work on the steam engine that became fundamental to the incredible changes and developments wrought by the Industrial Revolution. But in this new biography, Ben Russell tells a much bigger, richer story, peering over Watt’s shoulder to more fully explore the processes he used and how his ephemeral ideas were transformed into tangible artifacts. Over the course of the book, Russell reveals as much about the life of James Watt as he does a history of Britain’s early industrial transformation and the birth of professional engineering. To record this fascinating narrative, Russell draws on a wide range of resources—from archival material to three-dimensional objects to scholarship in a diversity of fields from ceramics to antique machine-making. He explores Watt’s early years and interest in chemistry and examines Watt’s partnership with Matthew Boulton, with whom he would become a successful and wealthy man. In addition to discussing Watt’s work and incredible contributions that changed societies around the world, Russell looks at Britain’s early industrial transformation. Published in association with the Science Museum London, and with seventy illustrations, James Watt is not only an intriguing exploration of the engineer’s life, but also an illuminating journey into the broader practices of invention in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Published in association with the Science Museum, London
Dungeons & Dragons. It’s the fantasy role-playing game first conceived over fifty years ago by the now-legendary company TSR ,which has enthralled millions of devoted gamers around the world for generations. It’s a test of skill, intelligence, audacity, and survival. But no D&D game ever played could compare to the stunning behind-the-scenes melee for power and dominance that was the true story of TSR. Slaying the Dragon chronicles the rise and fall of TSR (Tactical Studies Rules), how the brilliant and wild minds of the legendary Gary Gygax and his co-creator Dave Arneson gave birth to a game that would capture the imagination of outsiders and underdogs throughout the world. From its humble beginnings in the small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to its emergence as a cultural phenomenon, TSR soon spawned an unlikely empire of games and geekdom—with Dungeons & Dragons leading the way—that was decades ahead of its time, inviting both hyper-devoted fans as well as hysteria surrounding the game’s supposed corrupting influence on America’s youth. TSR was in the news, in the money, and on top of the world. But success soon took its toll, with creative control and rivalries within the firm threatening the stability of TSR. Former allies grew apart personally and professionally, and the formerly fun, freewheeling firm founded by a band of misfits collapsed into a desperate struggle for survival. Despite attempts to grow in a changing market, setbacks and management decisions put TSR in a downward spiral in the 1990s which resulted in the company's death and then resurrection by the most unlikely of saviors. With author access to previously unreleased documents and insider stories, and interviews with former TSR employees and associates who witnessed the high-stakes machinations and maneuvering that would eventually seal the company’s fate, Slaying the Dragon is a fascinating, revealing tale of friends turned enemies, success and failure, and loyalty and betrayal that no roll of the die could predict... "Riggs has written a fascinating and dishy account of the business hits and whistling misses of a band of dreamers, writers, artists, and geeks... A must-read for fighters, magic-users, and even bards -- and everyone else, too." — Brad Ricca, Edgar-nominated author of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes and True Raiders"Far from a fluff piece on a beloved hobby, this book goes behind the GM's screen to take a hard-nosed look at the people and circumstances that first gave rise to D&D, then nearly killed it -- twice. Riggs takes you on a roller-coaster from boom to near bankruptcy, but never loses sight of the individuals involved, the good, the bad, and the geeky." — Marie Brennan, Hugo-Award nominated author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent series
Raw, authoritative, and unflinching ... An elaborately detailed, darkly surprising, definitive history of the LA gangsta rap era." -- Kirkus, starred review A monumental, revealing narrative history about the legendary group of artists at the forefront of West Coast hip-hop: Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur. Amid rising gang violence, the crack epidemic, and police brutality, a group of unlikely voices cut through the chaos of late 1980s Los Angeles: N.W.A. Led by a drug dealer, a glammed-up producer, and a high school kid, N.W.A gave voice to disenfranchised African Americans across the country. And they quickly redefined pop culture across the world. Their names remain as popular as ever -- Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Dre soon joined forces with Suge Knight to create the combustible Death Row Records, which in turn transformed Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur into superstars. Ben Westhoff explores how this group of artists shifted the balance of hip-hop from New York to Los Angeles. He shows how N.W.A.'s shocking success lead to rivalries between members, record labels, and eventually a war between East Coast and West Coast factions. In the process, hip-hop burst into mainstream America at a time of immense social change, and became the most dominant musical movement of the last thirty years. At gangsta rap's peak, two of its biggest names -- Tupac and Biggie Smalls -- were murdered, leaving the surviving artists to forge peace before the genre annihilated itself. Featuring extensive investigative reporting, interviews with the principal players, and dozens of never-before-told stories, Original Gangstas is a groundbreaking addition to the history of popular music.
A cast of sturdy characters' existentialist of the working classes' -senior ordinary seaman O'Rourke 'Western Ocean man and would be hard knock'; the murderous Captain Jake; Busti the elderly Egyptian galley boy; drunken Chief Mate Cartrite; Dingbat the ancient alcoholic Welsh engineer; Hesta the Padre's wife, and Clarrie the ancient and classically camp chief steward re seen through the eyes of first trip apprentice James Howard and his dotty inspiration Prudence back in Britain as James picks up the ethics of his nautical trade.
Unlike other books on Martin Scorsese that favor the discussion of broad themes and plot summaries, Scorsese Up Close: A Study of the Films also looks at the cinematic text of the great director's films. With a scrutiny comparable to the detail Scorsese brings to the shooting and editing process, author Ben Nyce examines particular shots or sequences of shots in many of the director's works. By focusing on these key components, Nyce explains how the visual and aural elements of such scenes dramatize Scorsese's singular vision. Nyce first discusses several of the early works that established Scorsese as a filmmaker, beginning with a short student film, What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? Subsequent chapters focus on individual films in the Scorsese canon, including Mean Streets, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence, Bringing out the Dead, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull. Nyce's close attention to the details within each of these films will satisfy fans and students alike, especially those who share a passion for Scorsese's artistry and an appreciation for the craft of his filmmaking. Illustrated with photos.
Newly updated fifth edition: The remarkable reference that is “absolutely essential in every naval historian’s library” (Warship World). This is the latest updated edition of the book known simply as “Colledge” for its longtime reputation as the first stop for anyone wanting more information on any British warship from the fifteenth century to the present day when only the name is known. Each entry gives concise details of dimensions, armament, and service dates, and the volume’s alphabetical and chronological arrangement makes it easy to track down the right ship—avoiding the confusion and errors that can result due to the Royal Navy’s tradition of re-using the same names. This fifth edition contains some 200 new entries and revisions to many older entries. These reflect the demise of the post-Cold War ships as the Royal Navy was shrunk down as part of the peace dividend and successive defense reviews saw the loss of significant ships classes such as the Type 42 destroyers, Type 22 frigates, and the Illustrious class carriers. It is now being re-equipped in the face of new global challenges and has seen the introduction of the Queen Elizabeth class carriers, the largest ships ever built for the RN; the Type 45 destroyers; and Type 26 frigates and new patrol ships which will take on more global policing roles. Regarding submarines, the Cold War S and T classes are being replaced by the Astute class, and the deterrent role undertaken by the Vanguard class is to be carried forward by the Dreadnought class. Also included are the new RFAs, which are increasingly taking on frontline operations to release the small number of escorts to more combative roles. In addition, there are updates to the Royal Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand navies, which have programs to introduce new destroyers, Arctic patrol vessels, submarines, and support ships. Since the death of Jim Colledge, who was widely respected for his pioneering research on the technical details of warships, his magnum opus has been updated, corrected and expanded with similar enthusiasm and attention to detail by Ben Warlow, a retired naval officer and author of a number of books in the field. “An authoritative guide to British warships through the ages.” —Ships Monthly “The automatic starting point of research on Royal Navy ships.” —Lloyd’s List “[A] quite invaluable reference tool.” —The Mariner’s Mirror
An authoritative course text designed to provide a standalone resource for students. It contains a blend of carefully selected key cases, legislation and academic debate linked by substantial author commentary.
Two attractive women...one personable man...a gun...a shot...and then black headlines asking red blood for...THE VENUS DEATH BY BEN BENSON Ben Benson’s superb descriptions of the state police at work...and at play...have given all of his mystery novels a unique and buoyant quality of authenticity. The Venus Death is no exception...but here Mr. Benson departs from previous practice to create a vigorous new hero, young state trooper Ralph Lindsey. This is Lindsey’s story from start to finish. It begins when a glamorous blonde singles him out for personal attention. It continues through the frantic horror of murder...the desperate wish to clear his own name...the urgent, driving need to protect the people he loves. The Venus Death is Ben Benson at top form, which means a strikingly different story for solid reading entertainment.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The inside story of the Houston Astros, whose relentless innovation took them from the worst team in baseball to the World Series in 2017 and 2019 “Reiter’s superb narrative of how the team got there provides powerful insights into how organizations—not just baseball clubs—work best.”—The Wall Street Journal Astroball picks up where Michael Lewis’s acclaimed Moneyball leaves off, telling the thrilling story of a championship team that pushed both the sport and business of baseball to the next level. In 2014, the Astros were the worst baseball team in half a century, but just three years later they defied critics to win a stunning World Series. In this book, Ben Reiter shows how the Astros built a system that avoided the stats-versus-scouts divide by giving the human factor a key role in their decision-making. Sitting at the nexus of sports, business, and innovation, Astroball is the story of the next wave of thinking in baseball and beyond, at once a remarkable underdog tale and a fascinating look at the cutting edge of evaluating and optimizing human potential.
Unlike in Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere, urban history has never been sustained as a distinct field of scholarship in New Zealand. This is surprising, considering that since the early twentieth century most New Zealanders have lived in towns and cities – 86 per cent were urban in 2014. Yet we know surprisingly little about these urban dwellers and the spaces in which they lived.' The pursuit of city life is one of the most important untold stories of New Zealand. The Big Smoke is the first comprehensive history to tell this story, presenting a dynamic and highly illustrated account of city life from 1840 to 1920. It explores such questions as: what did cities look like and how did they change; why were women especially drawn to live in cities; in what ways did Māori experience and shape cities; how far was the street a living room and stage for city life; and why did New Zealand so quickly become a nation of townspeople? At a time of national debate over housing and the growth of our cities, Ben Schrader’s superb new history reveals how our urban origins have shaped the people we are today. Available in paperback and ebook formats from booksellers and using the ‘Buy’ buttons on this page. For more information on these purchase options please visit our Sales FAQs page or contact us.
This beautifully written book weaves reflections on anthropological fieldwork together with evocative meditations on a spectacular landscape as it takes us to the remote indigenous villages on the shore of Lake Titicaca, high in the Peruvian Andes. Ben Orlove brings alive the fishermen, reed cutters, boat builders, and families of this isolated region, and describes the role that Lake Titicaca has played in their culture. He describes the landscapes and rhythms of life in the Andean highlands as he considers the intrusions of modern technology and economic demands in the region. Lines in the Water tells a local version of events that are taking place around the world, but with an unusual outcome: people here have found ways to maintain their cultural autonomy and to protect their fragile mountain environment. The Peruvian highlanders have confronted the pressures of modern culture with remarkable vitality. They use improved boats and gear and sell fish to new markets but have fiercely opposed efforts to strip them of their indigenous traditions. They have retained their customary practice of limiting the amount of fishing and have continued to pass cultural knowledge from one generation to the next--practices that have prevented the ecological crises that have followed commercialization of small-scale fisheries around the world. This book--at once a memoir and an ethnography--is a personal and compelling account of a research experience as well as an elegantly written treatise on themes of global importance. Above all, Orlove reminds us that human relations with the environment, though constantly changing, can be sustainable.
From the World Cup-winning days of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters to highly acclaimed modern-day heroes such as Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe, West Ham United supporters have always had the greatest affection for homegrown Hammers. Since the 1960s, talents such as Trevor Brooking, Tony Cottee, Paul Ince and Rio Ferdinand (who has twice hit the headlines as the world's most expensive defender following his move to Leeds and Manchester United) have been nurtured and brought through the club's ranks, ensuring the Hammers can rightly lay claim to having one of the country's most fruitful youth policies. In this revised and fully updated paperback edition, Claret and Blue Blood brings together all these characters and others for the very first time, including new chapters on Anton Ferdinand, Stephen Bywater and Kevin Horlock. Using exclusive new interviews, the authors present biographical pieces that collectively tell the story of West Ham United's evolution over the last half-century. Focusing on each player's roots, development and personal achievements, Claret and Blue Blood is a unique book that features key characters, candid conversations, successes, failures and controversies as it explores the very essence of West Ham United.
For the first time, in one volume, Ben Evans with David Harland will not only tell the story of the hugely successful Voyager missions, but also that of the men and women who have devoted their entire working lives to them. Illustrated with stunning images, some in color, they describe the missions from their conception, through their spectacular encounters with the outer planets and on to their ultimate and, as yet, unknown destination among the stars in the so-called Voyager Interstellar Mission
A Hugo Award winner and one of the most respected novelists in science fiction returns with a timely thrill-ride, in which the world of politics carries its own dangers.
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