Recipient of the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord. Drawing on a vast amount of new material, including correspondence among the Emerson brothers, Richardson gives us a rewarding intellectual biography that is also a portrait of the whole man. These pages present a young suitor, a grief-stricken widower, an affectionate father, and a man with an abiding genius for friendship. The great spokesman for individualism and self-reliance turns out to have been a good neighbor, an activist citizen, a loyal brother. Here is an Emerson who knew how to laugh, who was self-doubting as well as self-reliant, and who became the greatest intellectual adventurer of his age. Richardson has, as much as possible, let Emerson speak for himself through his published works, his many journals and notebooks, his letters, his reported conversations. This is not merely a study of Emerson's writing and his influence on others; it is Emerson's life as he experienced it. We see the failed minister, the struggling writer, the political reformer, the poetic liberator. The Emerson of this book not only influenced Thoreau, Fuller, Whitman, Dickinson, and Frost, he also inspired Nietzsche, William James, Baudelaire, Marcel Proust, Virginia Woolf, and Jorge Luis Borges. Emerson's timeliness is persistent and striking: his insistence that literature and science are not separate cultures, his emphasis on the worth of every individual, his respect for nature. Richardson gives careful attention to the enormous range of Emerson's readings—from Persian poets to George Sand—and to his many friendships and personal encounters—from Mary Moody Emerson to the Cherokee chiefs in Boston—evoking both the man and the times in which he lived. Throughout this book, Emerson's unquenchable vitality reaches across the decades, and his hold on us endures.
The definitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose life and writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy, teaching, and religion—on modernism itself. Often cited as the “father of American psychology,” William James was an intellectual luminary who made significant contributions to at least five fields: psychology, philosophy, religious studies, teaching, and literature. A member of one of the most unusual and notable of American families, James struggled to achieve greatness amid the brilliance of his theologian father; his brother, the novelist Henry James; and his sister, Alice James. After studying medicine, he ultimately realized that his true interests lay in philosophy and psychology, a choice that guided his storied career at Harvard, where he taught some of America’s greatest minds. But it is James’s contributions to intellectual study that reveal the true complexity of man. In this biography that seeks to understand James’s life through his work—including Principles of Psychology, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism—Robert D. Richardson has crafted an exceptionally insightful work that explores the mind of a genius, resulting in “a gripping and often inspiring story of intellectual and spiritual adventure” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “A magnificent biography.” —The Washington Post
Richardson has been writing and collecting quotes for several years. In this compilation, he shows you just how the seemingly simple events in life often turn out to be more difficult than expected. By including his own quotes, as well as quotes from others, he encourages you to reflect on both your past and present experiences, and then combine the two to help discover what you are really striving to achieve in life. Richardson includes just one quote on each page, leaving space for you to write your thoughts or comments below, creating a personal journal to treasure for years to come. Life is not easy. My Favorite Quotes Collection will help you realize that life is a circle of good and bad, and that you do have the strength to overcome it all. Surrender to the power in yourself, and learn to enjoy life!
Over the course of more than twenty years, James D. Richardson and his wife, Lori, retraced the steps of his ancestor, George Richardson (1824–1911), across nine states, uncovering letters, diaries, and more memoirs hidden away Their journey brought them to the brink of the racial divide in America, revealing how his great-great-grandfather Richardson played a role in the Underground Railroad, served as a chaplain to a Black Union regiment in the Civil War, and founded a college in Texas for the formerly enslaved. In narrating this compelling life, The Abolitionist’s Journal explores the weight of the past as well as the pull of one’s ancestral history. The author raises questions about why this fervent commitment to the emancipation of African Americans was nearly forgotten by his family, exploring the racial attitudes in the author’s upbringing and the ingrained racism that still plagues our nation today. As America confronts a generational reckoning on race, these important perspectives add a layer to our larger national story.
The two years Thoreau spent at Walden Pond and the night he spent in the Concord jail are among the most familiar features of the American intellectual landscape. In this new biography, based on a reexamination of Thoreau's manuscripts and on a retracing of his trips, Robert Richardson offers a view of Thoreau's life and achievement in their full nineteenth century context.
From their acclaimed biographer, a final, powerful book about how Emerson, Thoreau, and William James forged resilience from devastating loss, changing the course of American thought In Three Roads Back, Robert Richardson, the author of magisterial biographies of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and William James, tells the connected stories of how these foundational American writers and thinkers dealt with personal tragedies early in their careers. For Emerson, it was the death of his young wife and, eleven years later, his five-year-old son; for Thoreau, it was the death of his brother; and for James, it was the death of his beloved cousin Minnie Temple. Filled with rich biographical detail and unforgettable passages from the journals and letters of Emerson, Thoreau, and James, these vivid and moving stories of loss and hard-fought resilience show how the writers’ responses to these deaths helped spur them on to their greatest work, influencing the birth and course of American literature and philosophy. In reaction to his traumatic loss, Emerson lost his Unitarian faith and found solace in nature. Thoreau, too, leaned on nature and its regenerative power, discovering that “death is the law of new life,” an insight that would find expression in Walden. And James, following a period of panic and despair, experienced a redemptive conversion and new ideas that would drive his work as a psychologist and philosopher. As Richardson shows, all three emerged from their grief with a new way of seeing, one shaped by a belief in what Emerson called “the deep remedial force that underlies all facts.” An inspiring book about resilience and the new growth and creativity that can stem from devastating loss, Three Roads Back is also an extraordinary account of the hidden wellsprings of American thought.
Harry Jones, an American Special Forces veteran, and Hakim al-Boulos, a Yemeni freedom fighter, are joined together to execute missions into Saudi Arabia to dissuade the Saudis from bombing civilian areas in Yemen. Harry must help Hakim manage his team as they are buffeted by fickle winds blowing in Washington DC. Winds that disrupt the original reason the NSA supported the interdiction mission utilizing Hakim’s group. The vast empty spaces in both Yemen and Saudi Arabia are the background for action, while the urban areas of Chicago, Houston and Washington DC, along with forested New England, represent the perceived superiority of America. The novel is based on US and Saudi Arabian involvement in Yemen’s civil war, which has killed thousands of people. The story isn’t ideological in presentation but is strongly character driven, as people are reacting to situations beyond their control.
Writing was the central passion of Emerson’s life. While his thoughts on the craft are well developed in “The Poet,” “The American Scholar,” Nature, “Goethe,” and “Persian Poetry,” less well known are the many pages in his private journals devoted to the relationship between writing and reading. Here, for the first time, is the Concord Sage’s energetic, exuberant, and unconventional advice on the idea of writing, focused and distilled by the preeminent Emerson biographer at work today. Emerson advised that “the way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent.” First We Read, Then We Write contains numerous such surprises—from “every word we speak is million-faced” to “talent alone cannot make a writer”—but it is no mere collection of aphorisms and exhortations. Instead, in Robert Richardson’s hands, the biographical and historical context in which Emerson worked becomes clear. Emerson’s advice grew from his personal experience; in practically every moment of his adult life he was either preparing to write, trying to write, or writing. Richardson shows us an Emerson who is no granite bust but instead is a fully fleshed, creative person disarmingly willing to confront his own failures. Emerson urges his readers to try anything—strategies, tricks, makeshifts—speaking not only of the nuts and bolts of writing but also of the grain and sinew of his determination. Whether a writer by trade or a novice, every reader will find something to treasure in this volume. Fearlessly wrestling with “the birthing stage of art,” Emerson’s counsel on being a reader and writer will be read and reread for years to come.
Gordon Fulton provides a fascinating new study of styles in Samuel Richardson's masterpiece, Clarissa, connecting the style the characters deploy in their speech and letters with their positions in society. Fulton argues that the novel is a critical examination of the relationship between language and power and an expression of Richardson's own understanding of social interaction as a struggle for personal pre-eminence and sexual dominance.
This book provides a comprehensive reading of Samuel Richardson's novels. Using a combination of literary theory and criminology, Christopher D. Johnson demonstrates that Richardson not only understood the horrific dynamics of domestic violence, but also recognized the degree to which his first novel, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded (1740) could inadvertently normalize abusive relationships. This recognition informed Richardson's subsequent novels and fueled his distrust of novelistic fiction, especially those comedic works that depend on sudden transformations. It also caused him to draw careful delineations between the practical instruction he hoped to provide and the ideals of his Christian faith, particularly as they pertain to earthly suffering and self-sacrifice. The Richardson who emerges from the study becomes both a staunch defender of what he saw as a benevolent patriarchy and a fierce advocate for women's subjectivity, happiness and safety.
This book is a research monograph on high-Frequency Seafloor Acoustics. It is the first book in a new series sponsored by the Office of Naval Research on the latest research in underwater acoustics. It provides a critical evaluation of the data and models pertaining to high-frequency acoustic interaction with the seafloor, which will be of interest to researchers in underwater acoustics and to developers of sonars. Models and data are presented so as to be readily usable, backed up by extensive explanation. Much of the data is new, and the discussion in on two levels: concise descriptions in the main text backed up by extensive technical appendices.
Welcome to 13 year one. This 13 year fictional series takes place in the City of Detroit and Bad Axe Michigan. 13 people were accused of Kathy's murder and were released after the Judge ruled it an accident. Jay and Kathy had the perfect marriage. They never fought or argued, they just loved one another. Some would say they were soulmates. Kathy was Jay's whole world and he felt justice was not served! Heartbroken, he takes the law into his own hands and makes a promise to his murdered wife that he will keep! Jay decides to eliminate one of the accused a year on the same day as Kathy's death, Black Friday! Jay is a smart man and out wits the police while he continues his life. Jay Freemen spends a lot of time learning to get in and out undetected! With his new education and patience he sets up the next person acussed. With twists and turns and a little adventure, I feel I will capture your attention for twelve more years. James D Richardson
Everything seemed perfect in James Richardson's life. All the components of the American Dream seemed to be in place: a lovely home, a wife, two sons, the time required for fishing and outdoors adventures, and an invigorating career as an advanced placement world history teacher in Tampa, Florida. In the horror of a split-second, high-speed traffic accident, everything changed. When Richardson awoke in a hospital weeks later with a variety of physical and emotional injuries, he had no idea the obstacles he was about to face. Overcome by a haze of bewilderment, he tried to rise from his hospital bed. He crashed to the floor. His left leg was gone. One by one, the seemingly perfect building blocks of an American Dream were stripped from him. Secrets from his wife's past life emerged, painting a dark character with whom he had unwittingly shared every detail of his life. For James Richardson, this was the moment of truth. Alone, injured, boiling with anger, and with only a string of hope, he had to ask himself: Would he ever again be Standing on Two Feet?
Volume Four of this series contains the alphabetical rosters of each of the 144 cemeteries in the study area of Jackson and Sandy Ridge Townships, Union Co., NC. It includes over 27,524 graves.
The contemporary method of township government arrived in Illinois in the middle of the nineteenth century. Replacing the commission method of county government, which Illinois had employed since statehood in 1818, the township innovation spread south and westward across Illinois, almost completely ousting the county commissioners. Today, the commission format survives only in seventeen peripheral and largely rural Illinois counties. This book asserts that townships have persisted partly because they offer vital services at a reasonable cost to taxpayers, but also because of a vigorous defense of the method made by township officials with political connections in the Illinois general assembly. Discussing the successes and failures of attempts by abolition-minded citizens to eliminate all or individual townships in various counties, Township focuses on the spatial diffusion, periodic threats to, and determined persistence of the township system.
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