Ben Railton's Books

Smithsonian America

The Atlas

By: Keidrick Roy,David M. Carballo,Clarissa W. Confer,Celso Armando Mendoza,Jon Chandler,Tamara Venit Shelton,Ben Railton

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Smithsonian America

The Atlas

By: Keidrick Roy,David M. Carballo,Clarissa W. Confer,Celso Armando Mendoza,Jon Chandler,Tamara Venit Shelton,Ben Railton

A depiction of the history of North America and the United States told through maps old and new. The history starts with the peoples who first settled the land tens of thousand years ago, and continues to the present day. Includes a timeline of American history, a guide to the fifty U.S. states, and a map showing the birthplace of every U.S. president.

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384

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1645178420

ISBN 13

9781645178422

Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation

American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893

By: Ben Railton

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Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation

American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893

By: Ben Railton

In this study of Gilded Age literature and culture, Ben Railton proposes that in the years after Reconstruction, America's identity was often connected through distinct and competing conceptions of the nation's history. Concerned with key social questions such as race, Native Americans, women, and the South, "Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation" provided close readings of a number of texts for the ways they highlight these issues. This book examines established classics, newer additions to the canon, largely forgotten best-sellers, recovery gems, and autobiographical works by Douglass and Truth, poems by Harper and Piatt, and short stories by Woolson and Cooke. These readings contribute to ongoing conversations over historical literature's definition and value, and a greater understanding of not only American society in the Gilded Age, but also debates on our shared but contested history that remain very much alive in the present. -- From publisher's description.

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327

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University of Alabama Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0817315802

ISBN 13

9780817315801

Smithsonian America

The Atlas

By: Keidrick Roy,David M. Carballo,Clarissa W. Confer,Celso Armando Mendoza,Jon Chandler,Tamara Venit Shelton,Ben Railton

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Smithsonian America

The Atlas

By: Keidrick Roy,David M. Carballo,Clarissa W. Confer,Celso Armando Mendoza,Jon Chandler,Tamara Venit Shelton,Ben Railton

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384

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Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1645178420

ISBN 13

9781645178422

Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation

American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893

By: Ben Railton

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Contesting the Past, Reconstructing the Nation

American Literature and Culture in the Gilded Age, 1876-1893

By: Ben Railton

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327

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University of Alabama Press

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ISBN 10

0817315802

ISBN 13

9780817315801

The London Encyclopaedia (3rd Edition)

By: Christopher Hibbert,Ben Weinreb,John Keay,Julia Keay

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The London Encyclopaedia (3rd Edition)

By: Christopher Hibbert,Ben Weinreb,John Keay,Julia Keay

‘There is no one-volume book in print that carries so much valuable information on London and its history’ Illustrated London News The London Encyclopaedia is the most comprehensive book on London ever published. In its first new edition in over ten years, completely revised and updated, it comprises some 6,000 entries, organised alphabetically, cross-referenced and supported by two large indexes – one for the 10,000 people mentioned in the text and one general – and is illustrated with over 500 drawings, prints and photographs. Everything of relevance to the history, culture, commerce and government of the capital is documented in this phenomenal book. From the very first settlements through to the skyline of today, The London Encyclopaedia comprehends all that is London. ‘Written in very accessible prose with a range of memorable quotations and affectionate jokes...a monumental achievement written with real love’ Financial Times

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Page Count

1120

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0230738788

ISBN 13

9780230738782

The Hacker and the State

Cyber Attacks and the New Normal of Geopolitics

By: Ben Buchanan

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The Hacker and the State

Cyber Attacks and the New Normal of Geopolitics

By: Ben Buchanan

“A must-read...It reveals important truths.” —Vint Cerf, Internet pioneer “One of the finest books on information security published so far in this century—easily accessible, tightly argued, superbly well-sourced, intimidatingly perceptive.” —Thomas Rid, author of Active Measures Cyber attacks are less destructive than we thought they would be—but they are more pervasive, and much harder to prevent. With little fanfare and only occasional scrutiny, they target our banks, our tech and health systems, our democracy, and impact every aspect of our lives. Packed with insider information based on interviews with key players in defense and cyber security, declassified files, and forensic analysis of company reports, The Hacker and the State explores the real geopolitical competition of the digital age and reveals little-known details of how China, Russia, North Korea, Britain, and the United States hack one another in a relentless struggle for dominance. It moves deftly from underseas cable taps to underground nuclear sabotage, from blackouts and data breaches to election interference and billion-dollar heists. Ben Buchanan brings to life this continuous cycle of espionage and deception, attack and counterattack, destabilization and retaliation. Quietly, insidiously, cyber attacks have reshaped our national-security priorities and transformed spycraft and statecraft. The United States and its allies can no longer dominate the way they once did. From now on, the nation that hacks best will triumph. “A helpful reminder...of the sheer diligence and seriousness of purpose exhibited by the Russians in their mission.” —Jonathan Freedland, New York Review of Books “The best examination I have read of how increasingly dramatic developments in cyberspace are defining the ‘new normal’ of geopolitics in the digital age.” —General David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA “Fundamentally changes the way we think about cyber operations from ‘war’ to something of significant import that is not war—what Buchanan refers to as ‘real geopolitical competition.’” —Richard Harknett, former Scholar-in-Residence at United States Cyber Command

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Page Count

433

Publisher

Harvard University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0674245989

ISBN 13

9780674245983

Causation in Science

By: Yemima Ben-Menahem

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Causation in Science

By: Yemima Ben-Menahem

This book explores the role of causal constraints in science, shifting our attention from causal relations between individual events--the focus of most philosophical treatments of causation—to a broad family of concepts and principles generating constraints on possible change. Yemima Ben-Menahem looks at determinism, locality, stability, symmetry principles, conservation laws, and the principle of least action—causal constraints that serve to distinguish events and processes that our best scientific theories mandate or allow from those they rule out. Ben-Menahem's approach reveals that causation is just as relevant to explaining why certain events fail to occur as it is to explaining events that do occur. She investigates the conceptual differences between, and interrelations of, members of the causal family, thereby clarifying problems at the heart of the philosophy of science. Ben-Menahem argues that the distinction between determinism and stability is pertinent to the philosophy of history and the foundations of statistical mechanics, and that the interplay of determinism and locality is crucial for understanding quantum mechanics. Providing historical perspective, she traces the causal constraints of contemporary science to traditional intuitions about causation, and demonstrates how the teleological appearance of some constraints is explained away in current scientific theories such as quantum mechanics. Causation in Science represents a bold challenge to both causal eliminativism and causal reductionism—the notions that causation has no place in science and that higher-level causal claims are reducible to the causal claims of fundamental physics.

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Page Count

221

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1400889294

ISBN 13

9781400889297

The Bidens

Inside the First Family's Fifty-Year Rise to Power

By: Ben Schreckinger

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The Bidens

Inside the First Family's Fifty-Year Rise to Power

By: Ben Schreckinger

A deeply reported exploration of Joe Biden as told through his extended family. Coming off of the 2020 election, THE BIDENS tells the Biden Family story in full, from the secrets lurking in the deep recesses of Joe's family tree to his son Hunter's foreign deal-making spree—and the Trump gang's ham-handed efforts to exploit it. On November 3, Americans did not just elect Joe Biden: They got a package deal. The tight-knit Biden family—siblings, children, in-laws, and beyond—is coming right along with him. They are sure to play a defining role in his presidency, just as they have in every other one of his endeavors. Inside, you’ll find these and other stories and revelations about the Biden family, including: Joe’s childhood, the stunning 1972 Senate upset engineered by his sister Valerie, and the car accident that took the lives of his first wife and infant daughter soon after Joe’s early years in the Senate and his role in the creation of the cozy “Delaware Way” of conducting politics The Biden brothers’ business escapades, including the ’70s rock club rivalry that pitted Jim Biden against Jill’s first husband and ended in a banking scandal The Delaware lawman who oversaw an FBI investigation into Joe’s 2007 campaign fundraising and now has Hunter in his sights Hunter’s surprisingly close friendship with his Fox News antagonist, Tucker Carlson What Steve Bannon really hoped to accomplish by giving the contents of “the Laptop from Hell” to the New York Post New evidence that sheds light on the authenticity of Hunter’s alleged computer files Like the Kennedys before them, the Bidens are a tight-knit, idealistic Irish Catholic clan with good looks, dynastic ambitions, and serious personal problems. As THE BIDENS reveals, the best way to understand Joe Biden—his values, fears, and motives—is to understand his family: Their Irish (and not-so-Irish) roots, their place in the Delaware pecking order, their dodgy business deals, and their personal struggles and triumphs alike.

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Page Count

277

Publisher

Twelve

Published Date

ISBN 10

153873799X

ISBN 13

9781538737996

The Subtlety of Emotions

By: Aaron Ben-Ze'Ev

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The Subtlety of Emotions

By: Aaron Ben-Ze'Ev

An informal yet rigorous exploration of human emotions in all their complexity and subtlety. Why do we cry at the movies? What is the best way to manage destructive feelings such as jealousy? Although emotions pervade our lives, their nature, causes, and effects have only recently been studied by social scientists and philosophers. Despite growing scientific interest in the subject, empirical findings have not yet caught up with our intuitive knowledge. In this book Aaron Ben-Ze'ev carries out what he calls "a careful search for general patterns in the primeval jungle of emotions." In an engaging, informal style he draws on a variety of theoretical approaches and popular sources to produce a coherent account of emotions in all their subtlety. All of the ideas are illustrated with examples drawn from everyday life. The book is organized into two parts. The first presents an overall conceptual framework for understanding emotions. It looks at the typical characteristics and components of emotions, distinguishes emotions from other affective phenomena, classifies the emotions, and covers such related issues as emotional intelligence, regulating emotions, and emotions and morality. The second part discusses individual emotions, including envy, jealousy, pleasure-in-others'-misfortune, pity, compassion, anger, hate, disgust, love, sexual desire, happiness, sadness, pride, regret, and shame. The text is laced with insightful and often amusing quotations from sources ranging from Mae West to Montesquieu.

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Page Count

642

Publisher

MIT Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0262523191

ISBN 13

9780262523196

The Big Lebowski

By: J.M. Tyree,Ben Walters

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The Big Lebowski

By: J.M. Tyree,Ben Walters

Ethan and Joel Coen's The Big Lebowski was released in 1998 to general bafflement. A decade on, it had become a cult classic and remains so over 20 years later, inspiring a thriving circuit of 'Lebowski Fests' during which costumed devotees gather at bowling alleys and guzzle White Russians. Beyond its superabundance of deliciously quotable lines, how has the movie inspired such remarkable affection? And why does its critical stock continue to rise? The film's unlikely anchor is Jeff Bridges' career-best performance as Jeffrey Lebowski, a fully-baked 1960s radical turned Venice Beach drop-out known to his friends as 'the Dude'. Mistaken for an identically-named grandee whose young trophy wife is in trouble, the Dude finds himself embroiled in an impossibly convoluted kidnap plot involving pornographers, nihilists and threats to his 'johnson'. Worst of all, it conflicts with his bowling commitments. In part an irreverent pastiche of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep (as filmed by Howard Hawks), The Big Lebowski is also a jukebox of film history, littered with playful references to everything from Hitchcock and Altman to Busby Berkeley. This riot of addled quotations reflects the film's Los Angeles setting, a discombobulated world inhabited by flakes, phonies and poseurs with put-on identities. Like many Coen films, the movie plays havoc with the conventions of the crime genre and the absurdities of classical American 'heroism'. But it's also that rare thing: a comedy that gets richer, funnier and more affecting with each viewing. Beneath its breakneck pacing and foul-mouthed ribaldry, the Dude's story offers disarmingly humane lessons in the value of simple things: friendship, laughter and bowling. In their foreword to this new edition, the authors reflect on Lebowski's cult status and its contemporary resonances as a film about gentle non-conformity and friendship in an increasingly polarized world. The new edition also includes an interview with the Coens, revealing the origins of the name 'Jeffrey Lebowski'.

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Page Count

130

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

183871958X

ISBN 13

9781838719586

Well-Being

By: Ben Bradley

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Well-Being

By: Ben Bradley

The concept of well-being plays a central role in moral and political theory. Policies and actions are justified or criticized on the grounds that they make people better or worse off. But is there really such a thing as well-being, and if so, what is it? Is it pleasure, desire-satisfaction, knowledge, virtue, achievement, some combination of these, or something else entirely? How can we measure well-being, amongst individuals and society? And how can we use it to make moral judgements about people, policies and institutions? In this entertaining and accessible new book, Ben Bradley guides readers through the various philosophical theories of well-being, such as hedonism, perfectionism and pluralism, showing the benefits and drawbacks of each theory. He explores the role of well-being in moral and political theory, and the limitations of welfare-based approaches to ethics such as utilitarianism and welfare egalitarianism. Finally, he introduces puzzles about well-being that arise in moral and prudential deliberations about procreation and death. Well-Being is an ideal introduction to these topics for those with no philosophical background, or for philosophers looking for an overview of current thinking about the subject.

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John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

1509500901

ISBN 13

9781509500901

Faulkner's Hollywood Novels

Women between Page and Screen

By: Ben Robbins

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Faulkner's Hollywood Novels

Women between Page and Screen

By: Ben Robbins

Tracing the influence of Faulkner’s screenwriting on his literary craft and depictions of women William Faulkner’s time as a Hollywood screenwriter has often been dismissed as little more than an intriguing interlude in the career of one of America’s greatest novelists. Consequently, it has not received the wide-ranging critical examination it deserves. In Faulkner’s Hollywood Novels, Ben Robbins provides an overdue thematic analysis by systematically tracing a dialogue of influence between Faulkner’s literary fiction and screenwriting over a period of two decades. Among numerous insights, Robbins’s work sheds valuable new light on Faulkner’s treatment of female characters, both in his novels and in the films to which he contributed. Drawing on extensive archival research, Robbins finds that Hollywood genre conventions and archetypes significantly influenced and reshaped Faulkner’s craft after his involvement in the studio system. His work in the film industry also produced a deep exploration of the gendered dynamics of collaborative labor, genre formulae, and cultural hierarchies that materialized in both his Hollywood screenplays and his experimental fiction.

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Page Count

274

Publisher

University of Virginia Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0813951526

ISBN 13

9780813951522

The Cybersecurity Dilemma

Hacking, Trust, and Fear Between Nations

By: Ben Buchanan

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The Cybersecurity Dilemma

Hacking, Trust, and Fear Between Nations

By: Ben Buchanan

This book examines how cyber conflict could happen--even if no nation desires it. It applies the security dilemma, a long-standing idea in international relations, to cybersecurity. Drawing on a detailed analysis of leaked classified documents and cybersecurity forensic reports, this book shows how nations' methods of defending themselves in other states risk unintentionally threatening other nations and risking escalation.

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Page Count

300

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190665017

ISBN 13

9780190665012

The Bohemians

Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature

By: Ben Tarnoff

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The Bohemians

Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature

By: Ben Tarnoff

An extraordinary portrait of a fast-changing America—and the Western writers who gave voice to its emerging identity At once an intimate portrait of an unforgettable group of writers and a history of a cultural revolution in America, The Bohemians reveals how a brief moment on the far western frontier changed our culture forever. Beginning with Mark Twain’s arrival in San Francisco in 1863, this group biography introduces readers to the other young eccentric writers seeking to create a new American voice at the country’s edge—literary golden boy Bret Harte; struggling gay poet Charles Warren Stoddard; and beautiful, haunted Ina Coolbrith, poet and protector of the group. Ben Tarnoff’s elegant, atmospheric history reveals how these four pioneering writers helped spread the Bohemian movement throughout the world, transforming American literature along the way. “Tarnoff’s book sings with the humor and expansiveness of his subjects’ prose, capturing the intoxicating atmosphere of possibility that defined, for a time, America’s frontier.” -- The New Yorker “Rich hauls of historical research, deeply excavated but lightly borne.... Mr. Tarnoff’s ultimate thesis is a strong one, strongly expressed: that together these writers ‘helped pry American literature away from its provincial origins in New England and push it into a broader current’.” -- Wall Street Journal

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Page Count

338

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

0143126962

ISBN 13

9780143126966

London

Portrait of a City

By: Matthew Weinreb,Ben Weinreb

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London

Portrait of a City

By: Matthew Weinreb,Ben Weinreb

London: Portrait of a Cityis an intimate photographic essay that captures the glory and character of the city's buildings, facades and interiors. Its neat, portable format - and exceptional value for money - make it the ideal companion or souvenir for the many tourists, visitors and inhabitants alike who are mesmerized by the diverse architectural forms and histories that this multifaceted city has to offer. From the sublime to the ubiquitous, many of these photographs present unusual views of well-known monuments and highlight their lesser-known idiosyncracies. Based on the in-depth volume London Architecturepublished by Phaidon in 1993, this easy-to-use paperback edition is at once concise and accessible, meticulous and insightful. The same concept has been applied to Paris: Portrait of a City, which comprises the perfect companion volume.

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Page Count

244

Publisher

Phaidon Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0714838594

ISBN 13

9780714838595

We the People

The 500-year Battle Over who is American

By: Ben Railton

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We the People

The 500-year Battle Over who is American

By: Ben Railton

From the first European contact with indigenous peoples to today's debate over immigration, the question of who is American has been at the heart of our national story. Ben Railton's insightful exploration of this question throughout our history will help readers understand the current debate over national identity and immigration.

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Page Count

172

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1538128543

ISBN 13

9781538128541

Of Thee I Sing:competing Visio

By: Ben Railton

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Of Thee I Sing:competing Visio

By: Ben Railton

Our definition of American patriotism needs to be expanded beyond national celebrations. Identifying four competing forms of patriotism--celebratory, mythic, active, and critical--allows us to rediscover forgotten histories and reframe familiar ones like the Revolution and the Civil War, and helps us analyze our 21st century debates over patriotism.

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Page Count

256

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1538143429

ISBN 13

9781538143421

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