The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of "information overload," yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In fact, says Ann M. Blair in this intriguing book, the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. Blair examines methods of information management in ancient and medieval Europe as well as the Islamic world and China, then focuses particular attention on the organization, composition, and reception of Latin reference books in print in early modern Europe. She explores in detail the sophisticated and sometimes idiosyncratic techniques that scholars and readers developed in an era of new technology and exploding information.
Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as … a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the captivating story of growing up and finding her truth. "Blair is a rebel, an artist, and it turns out: a writer."—Glennon Doyle, Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Untamed and Founder of Together Rising The first story Selma Blair Beitner ever heard about herself is that she was a mean, mean baby. With her mouth pulled in a perpetual snarl and a head so furry it had to be rubbed to make way for her forehead, Selma spent years living up to her terrible reputation: biting her sisters, lying spontaneously, getting drunk from Passover wine at the age of seven, and behaving dramatically so that she would be the center of attention. Although Selma went on to become a celebrated Hollywood actress and model, she could never quite shake the periods of darkness that overtook her, the certainty that there was a great mystery at the heart of her life. She often felt like her arms might be on fire, a sensation not unlike electric shocks, and she secretly drank to escape. Over the course of this beautiful and, at times, devasting memoir, Selma lays bare her addiction to alcohol, her devotion to her brilliant and complicated mother, and the moments she flirted with death. There is brutal violence, passionate love, true friendship, the gift of motherhood, and, finally, the surprising salvation of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis. In a voice that is powerfully original, fiercely intelligent, and full of hard-won wisdom, Selma Blair’s Mean Baby is a deeply human memoir and a true literary achievement.
On the hugely successful hit reality TV show The Apprentice, Donald Trump tells his contenders that location and pricing are supremely significant. But in his own life, there have been other maxims: Do whatever it takes to win. Don't spare the chutzpah. Always use the superlative. Make everything into an advertisement for yourself. Whatever happens, always claim victory. Following these personal commandments, he has turned bragging, self-inflation, and showing off into competitive advantages that have brought him national and international renown. In Donald Trump: Master Apprentice, best-selling author Gwenda Blair recounts a true-life history with more twists and turns than any television producer could possibly imagine. Towering skyscrapers and glittering casinos, a luxury airline and a football-field-size yacht, steamy affairs and bitter lawsuits, near bankruptcy and stormy feuds -- all this and more are part of the life of Trump. An adaptation and update of her definitive biography, The Trumps, this new book provides fresh material on Donald Trump's brushes with bankruptcy, mammoth construction projects, and ever-expanding place in American life. Drawing on recent interviews with the celebrated real estate magnate, his associates, his rivals, and contestants from his television show, Blair offers new insight into the man who seems to have it all. For the first time, we also get a glimpse of the person who will ultimately decide the fate of the Trump brand: Donald Trump, Jr., the real-life apprentice who hopes to put his own imprint on his father's empire.
The history of the American "Indian", both past and present, has been encompassed by myth and caricature. Concentrating on the Native American nations of the "lower forty-eighty", Native American Voices surveys tribal groups, their life before the European conquerors arrived, religious encounters, current beliefs, and their history of pain. Written to inform and challenge the average reader as well as the professional, this account goes beyond history to assess continuing justice issues and immense problems that face the Native American community today. The book presents research data and the need for response. Say the authors: "Only a change of opinion and a clear insight by the majority of this land will end the debilitating prejudice that senselessly contributes to the Native Americans' modern history of pain".
In its first thousand years - from the revelations given to Muhammad in the 7th century to the great Islamic empires of the 16th - Islamic civilization flourished. While Europeans suffered through the Dark Ages, Muslims in such cities as Jerusalem, Damascus, Alexandria, Fez, Tunis, Cairo and Baghdad made remarkable advances in philosophy, science, medicine, literature and art. This work explores the first millennium of Islamic culture, seeking to shatter stereotypes and enlighten readers about the events and achievements that have shaped contemporary Islamic civilization. Jonathan Bloom and Sheila Blair examine the rise of Islam, the life of Muhammad, and the Islamic principles of faith. They describe the golden age of the Abbasids, the Mongol invasions, and the great Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires that emerged in their wake. Their narrative, complemented by excerpts of the Koran, poetry, biographies, inscriptions, travel guides, and a 13th-century recipe, concludes with a brief epilogue that takes us into the 20th century.
The definitive family biography of President Donald Trump. The revealing story of the Trumps mirrors America’s transformation from a land of striving immigrants to a world in which the aura of wealth alone can guarantee a fortune. The Trumps begins with a portrait of President Trump’s immigrant grandfather, who as a young man built hotels for miners in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. His son, Fred, took advantage of the New Deal, using government subsidies and loopholes to construct hugely successful housing developments in the 1940s and 1950s. The profits from Fred’s enterprises paved the way for President Trump’s roller-coaster ride through the 1980s and 1990s into the new century. With his talent for extravagant exaggeration—he calls it “truthful hyperbole”—President Trump turned the deal-making know-how of his forebears into an art form. By placing this much-publicized life within the context of family, Gwenda Blair adds a new dimension to the larger-than-life figure who ascended to the American Presidency.
In a world replete with stories of sectarian violence, we are often left wondering: Are there places where people of different ethnicities, especially with significant Muslim minorities, live in peace? If so, why haven't we heard more about them, and what explains their success? To answer these questions, Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac undertook a two-year exploration of oases of civility, places notable for minimal violence, rising life-expectancy, high literacy, and pragmatic compromises on cultural rights. They explored the Indian state of Kerala, the Russian republic of Tatarstan, the city of Marseille in France, the city of Flensburg, Germany, and the borough of Queens, New York. Through scores of interviews, they document ways and means that have proven successful in defusing ethnic tensions. This pathbreaking book elegantly blends political history, sociology, anthropology, and journalism, to provide big ideas for peace.
From 1861 through 1865, strife tore apart the United States. So divided was the country that even today, there are practically two versions of Civil War history--Confederate and Union. Attempting to sort out this record is not made any easier by the fact that there is no official nomenclature. The South, for example, tended to name battles based on the nearest town or region, while the North generally referred to the same skirmish by the nearest landmark or geographical feature. Therefore, finding the facts with a minimum of information can be a daunting task. This book brings together in an easy-to-use format the essential facts of the Civil War. The book aims to be quickly and precisely informative rather than comprehensive. The first section concentrates on individual topics, each of which is organized alphabetically and thoroughly cross-referenced. These provide details regarding the battles, armies and commanders of the Civil War. In the second half of the work, information is presented chronologically. Each year is chronicled, with all significant happenings listed by date. Appendices provide a glossary of contemporary terms; an alphabetical listing of ships from both navies; and basic biographical information on all commanders.
New York Times best seller Ever since Gabrielle Stanley Blair became a parent, she’s believed that a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families, and that the objects and decor we choose to surround ourselves with tell our family’s story. In this, her first book, Blair offers a room-by-room guide to keeping things sane, organized, creative, and stylish. She provides advice on getting the most out of even the smallest spaces; simple fixes that make it easy for little ones to help out around the house; ingenious storage solutions for the never-ending stream of kid stuff; rainy-day DIY projects; and much, much more.
Written with the needs and goals of a novice researcher in mind, this fully updated third edition provides an accurate account of how modern survey research is actually conducted. In addition to providing examples of alternative procedures, Designing Surveys shows how classic principles and recent research guide decision-making from setting the basic features of the survey through development, testing, and data collection.
The Second Edition of Designing Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures accounts for changes in telephone, Internet, and email surveying and provides a more comprehensive treatment on questionnaire testing. Despite changing technologies, however, the principles of scientific survey design remain unchanged, including the selection of the sample, the writing of questions to solicit an unbiased response, and the ethical treatment of human subjects. This new edition addresses these issues in the context of new and emerging technologies and their relationship to survey design and the social sciences. Designing Surveys provides an accurate account of how modern survey research is actually conducted, but with the needs and goals of a novice researcher in mind.
Judit M. Blair challenges the common view that azazel, lilith, deber, qeteb and reshef are names of 'demons' in the Hebrew Bible, claiming that major works on the subject proceed from the assumption that these terms were demons in the ancient Near East and /or later, or that they were deities who became 'demonised' by the authors of the Hebrew Bible. Without questioning the validity of traditional methods she supplements the existing works by making an exegesis based on a close reading of all the relevant texts of the Hebrew Bible in which these five terms occur. Close attention is paid to the linguistic, semantic, and structural levels of the texts. The emphasis is on a close examination of the immediate context in order to determine the function of each term. The author notes different signals within the texts, especially the use of the various poetical/rhetorical devices: personification, parallelism, similes, irony, and mythological elements.
Active Living Every Day, Third Edition, is a behavior change strategy book intended to help the reader become more physically active. It includes activities and tools within every chapter to encourage the reader to make long-term changes to improve health.
He was there when Dylan went electric, when a generation danced naked at Woodstock, and when Ken Kesey started experimenting with acid. Jerry Garcia was one of the most gifted musicians of all time, and he was a member of one of the most worshiped rock 'n' roll bands in history. Now, Blair Jackson, who covered the Grateful Dead for twenty-five years, gives us an unparalleled portrait of Garcia--the musical genius, the brilliant songwriter, and ultimately, the tortured soul plagued by his own addiction. With more than forty photographs, many of them previously unpublished, Garcia: An American Life is the ultimate tribute to the man who, Bob Dylan said, "had no equal.
The mechanized infantry is one of the least-studied components of the U.S. Army's combat arms, and its most visable piece of equipment, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, is one of the military's most controversial pieces of equipment. This study traces the idea of mechanized infantry from its roots in the early armored operations of World War I, through its fruition in World War II, to its drastic transformation in response to the threat of a nuclear, biological, and chemical battlefield. The U.S. Army's doctrinal migration from the idea of specialized armored infantry to that of more generalized mechanized infantry led to problematic consequences in training and equipping the force. Haworth explores the origins, conduct, and outcome of the Bradley controversy, along with its implications for Army institutional cultures, force designs, and doctrines. Challenging traditional partisan views of the Bradley program, Haworth goes to the roots of the issue. The author details the mechanized infantry's problematic status in the Army's traditional division of roles and missions between its Infantry and Armored branches. While new conditions demand new equipment, old institutions and current commitments inevitably complicate matters; thus, traditional infantry considerations have driven the Bradley's requirements. The raw capability of the vehicle and the fortitude and ingenuity of its users have to some extent compensated for the conflicting pressures in its design. However, the reluctance of the Army to see mechanized infantry as a specialty has led to the problem the vehicle has faced, as this book clearly shows.
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