James Meese's Books

Fame-Dropping

Five Decades of Encounters with the Eminent

By: James C. Humes

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Fame-Dropping

Five Decades of Encounters with the Eminent

By: James C. Humes

Fame-Dropping is a bit like name-dropping, but when your guide is historian James C. Humes, you can expect something more than just trivial details about celebrities. A former White House speechwriter and Pennsylvania state legislator, the author commands powers of persuasion that have opened doors into the lives of the world’s most influential men and women. Fame-Dropping zooms in for a close-up while offering you a front-row seat for viewing history’s big picture. Rich with insight, and told in a lively, self-deprecating style, this book contains tales of a gregarious ghostwriter who has met countless notables — from star performers to those who wield power behind the scenes, in Hollywood, Washington, and beyond. Learn, laugh, and enjoy with a “well-traveled political junkie” and Churchill biographer as he witnesses Richard Nixon’s informal side, dances with a young and radiant Queen Elizabeth II, and watches Margaret Thatcher tear up a speech he’d just written. Come and join Sir John Gielgud at the bar for cocktails, dine in Washington with McGovern’s Hollywood supporter Shirley MacLaine, and find out what the guests found hanging in Pamela Harriman’s powder room. At once intimate and grounded in a historian’s wider perspectives, Fame-Dropping invites you to come closer and listen in, as you take a whirlwind tour of world events with the man who was welcomed everywhere.

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Page Count

220

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0761870806

ISBN 13

9780761870807

Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution

For Moral Readings and Against Originalisms

By: James E. Fleming

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Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution

For Moral Readings and Against Originalisms

By: James E. Fleming

James E. Fleming argues that fidelity in interpreting the US Constitution as written requires a moral reading or philosophic approach, and that fidelity commits to honouring aspirational principles, not following the relatively specific original meanings (or original expected applications) of the founders.

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Page Count

262

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199793379

ISBN 13

9780199793372

Studies in South Asian Linguistics

Sinhala and Other South Asian Languages

By: James W. Gair

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Studies in South Asian Linguistics

Sinhala and Other South Asian Languages

By: James W. Gair

This volume collects twenty-nine published and unpublished papers by the linguist James Gair, considered the foremost western scholar of the Sri Lankan languages Sinhala and Jaffna Tamil. Ranging over thirty years, his work also considers issues in a variety of Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali. The collection reflects the wide range of Gair's interests, from morpho-syntactic questions to questions regarding historical and areal linguistics, especially language contact and diglossia, and extending to language acquisition. By collecting these papers and making them newly accessible, this volume will provide an important resource not only for scholars of these languages but for linguists interested in the theoretical issues Gair explores.

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Page Count

389

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195095219

ISBN 13

9780195095210

Who Governs?

Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation

By: James N. Druckman,Lawrence R. Jacobs

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Who Governs?

Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation

By: James N. Druckman,Lawrence R. Jacobs

America’s model of representational government rests on the premise that elected officials respond to the opinions of citizens. This is a myth, however, not a reality, according to James N. Druckman and Lawrence R. Jacobs. In Who Governs?, Druckman and Jacobs combine existing research with novel data from US presidential archives to show that presidents make policy by largely ignoring the views of most citizens in favor of affluent and well-connected political insiders. Presidents treat the public as pliable, priming it to focus on personality traits and often ignoring it on policies that fail to become salient. Melding big debates about democratic theory with existing research on American politics and innovative use of the archives of three modern presidents—Johnson, Nixon, and Reagan—Druckman and Jacobs deploy lively and insightful analysis to show that the conventional model of representative democracy bears little resemblance to the actual practice of American politics. The authors conclude by arguing that polyarchy and the promotion of accelerated citizen mobilization and elite competition can improve democratic responsiveness. An incisive study of American politics and the flaws of representative government, this book will be warmly welcomed by readers interested in US politics, public opinion, democratic theory, and the fecklessness of American leadership and decision-making.

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Page Count

205

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022623455X

ISBN 13

9780226234557

The Triumph of Improvisation

Gorbachev's Adaptability, Reagan's Engagement, and the End of the Cold War

By: James Wilson

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The Triumph of Improvisation

Gorbachev's Adaptability, Reagan's Engagement, and the End of the Cold War

By: James Wilson

In The Triumph of Improvisation, James Graham Wilson takes a long view of the end of the Cold War, from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 to Operation Desert Storm in January 1991. Drawing on deep archival research and recently declassified papers, Wilson argues that adaptation, improvisation, and engagement by individuals in positions of power ended the specter of a nuclear holocaust. Amid ambivalence and uncertainty, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, George Shultz, George H. W. Bush, and a host of other actors engaged with adversaries and adapted to a rapidly changing international environment and information age in which global capitalism recovered as command economies failed. Eschewing the notion of a coherent grand strategy to end the Cold War, Wilson paints a vivid portrait of how leaders made choices; some made poor choices while others reacted prudently, imaginatively, and courageously to events they did not foresee. A book about the burdens of responsibility, the obstacles of domestic politics, and the human qualities of leadership, The Triumph of Improvisation concludes with a chapter describing how George H. W. Bush oversaw the construction of a new configuration of power after the fall of the Berlin Wall, one that resolved the fundamental components of the Cold War on Washington's terms.

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Page Count

281

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801470226

ISBN 13

9780801470226

Willie Brown

A Biography

By: James Richardson

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Willie Brown

A Biography

By: James Richardson

Traces the life and political career of San Francisco's first African American mayor

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Page Count

558

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520204565

ISBN 13

9780520204560

OSHO: The Buddha for the Future

By: Maneesha James

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OSHO: The Buddha for the Future

By: Maneesha James

Osho: The Buddha For the Future, serendipitously arrives in the wake of the explosive release of the Netflix documentary series, ‘Wild Wild Country.’ Author Maneesha James witnessed first hand, and kept a meticulous record of the creation of Osho’s communes and the evolution of his work as they unfolded. This, the first volume of a trilogy, opens at the ashram in Pune, India, in the early ‘70’s. The reader follows this phase through Osho’s public discourses on many of the ancient masters, the early experimentations with meditation techniques in which the author was personally involved, Osho’s unique partnering of meditation with therapy, the introduction of ‘Zorba the Buddha’ and ‘The Psychology of the Buddhas,’ his energy work, and much more. Along with her own observations and experiences, Maneesha’s interviews with numerous key players cast a whole new understanding on the remarkable years of Rajneeshpuram in Oregon. Her account fills in the gaping omissions in the Netflix docuseries – providing an, intimate, in-depth understanding of what it was like to be a modern-day seeker in a contemporary mystery school designed to help realize a daring new vision for humanity, espoused by an iconoclastic spiritual master. In addition, for those willing and able to look below the hype, the inside story behind the political machinations – both on the part of the commune administrator and the US government – makes for a riveting read. Osho: The Buddha For the Future provides a valuable testimony to a spiritual master far ahead of his time, and is a remarkable record of the efforts of the most powerful government in the world to silence him.

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Page Count

508

Publisher

Osho International

Published Date

ISBN 10

0880504455

ISBN 13

9780880504454

Our Supreme Court

A History with 14 Activities

By: Richard Panchyk,Senator John Kerry,James Baker,Nadine Strossen

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Our Supreme Court

A History with 14 Activities

By: Richard Panchyk,Senator John Kerry,James Baker,Nadine Strossen

This lively and comprehensive activity book teaches young readers everything they need to know about the nation's highest court. Organized around keystones of the Constitution—including free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, criminal justice, and property rights—the book juxtaposes historical cases with similar current cases. Presented with opinions from both sides of the court cases, readers can make up their own minds on where they stand on the important issues that have evolved in the Court over the past 200 years. Interviews with prominent politicians, high-court lawyers, and those involved with landmark decisions—including Ralph Nader, Rudolph Giuliani, Mario Cuomo, and Arlen Specter—show the personal impact and far-reaching consequences of the decisions. Fourteen engaging classroom-oriented activities involving violations of civil rights, exercises of free speech, and selecting a classroom Supreme Court bring the issues and cases to life. The first 15 amendments to the Constitution and a glossary of legal terms are also included.

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Page Count

209

Publisher

Chicago Review Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1613740476

ISBN 13

9781613740477

Too Good to be True

The Outlandish Story of Wedtech

By: James Traub

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Too Good to be True

The Outlandish Story of Wedtech

By: James Traub

The story of the rise and fall of Wedtech and of corrupt practices in the awarding of defense contracts.

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Page Count

424

Publisher

New York ; Toronto : Doubleday

Published Date

ISBN 10

0385261829

ISBN 13

9780385261821

Book's by James Meese

Fame-Dropping

Fame-Dropping

Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution

Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution

Studies in South Asian Linguistics

Studies in South Asian Linguistics

Who Governs?

Who Governs?

The Triumph of Improvisation

The Triumph of Improvisation

Willie Brown

Willie Brown

OSHO: The Buddha for the Future

OSHO: The Buddha for the Future

Our Supreme Court

Our Supreme Court

Too Good to be True

Too Good to be True

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