Meet Les Green. Head of the most potent pigeon racing team in the UK - known in pigeon racing circles as 'The Mafia'. A sharp-tongued, quick-witted ex-gang member from Salford who now devotes his life to breeding and racing pigeons that are as swift and consistent as the expletives that fly from his own foul mouth. The RPRA (Royal Pigeon Racing Association) - an organization filled with ex brigadiers - sees Les and his lads as a bunch of Northern upstarts out to make trouble. Given the chance, and if they weren't so damn good, the RPRA would ban them from competing. This conflict forms the backdrop as we follow Les from his legendary coop in North Manchester to the National Pigeon Racing convention in Blackpool; on to the $250,000 Las Vegas classic; and finally to take part in the ultimate pigeon race - the $1 million bonanza in Sun City, South Africa. A Very British Coop is the story of Les and his team trying to defy the odds and drag pigeon racing into the 21st century, meanwhile pursuing the ultimate feathered flying prize. It is also the first insight into a global pursuit which blurs hobby and sport, sees pigeons flown first-class round the world before changing hands for over $100,000, and where grown men will stop at nothing to see their bird flying into sight first.
Itinerary-based guides focusing on the best places to see and things to do, picked by our local correspondents. They are ideal for visitors new to a destination and perhaps pressed for time. To help readers follow the routes easily, the books contain full-size pull-out maps.
Many regard Muhammad Ali simply as "The Greatest" heavyweight of all time. Others admire his battles against racial injustice and religious intolerance. A few just call him "Dad." They are all here in this book--fifty men and women of note coming together to celebrate the man Sports Illustrated crowned "Sportsman of the Century" Angelo Dundee, Ali's trainer; Billy Crystal, actor; Sir Henry Cooper, former British and European heavyweight champion; Bert Sugar, journalist and boxing historian; Hana Ali, Muhammad Ali's daughter; Ferdie Pacheco, Ali's fight doctor; and more. This book will be treasured by anyone who has ever been inspired by "The Greatest.
Muhammad Ali is a force of nature. Over the past forty years, he's proven himself a one-of-a-kind boxing champion, a charismatic media darling, and a world-class personality. Here at last is a book spectacular enough to capture his legend. This beautifully produced, oversized hardcover is brimming with hundreds of rare and never-before-published photographs, many of which were printed with a unique, stunning silvertone effect. Based on exclusive interviews conducted with Ali at the height of his career, as well as meticulous research with the help of his family, friends, entourage, and opponents, Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years captures as never before the champ's dazzling talent and magnetic appeal, both in and out of the ring. The visual centerpiece to this astonishing collection is a complete photographic record of each and every professional Ali ght from 1960 to 1981. Also included is a foreword by former light heavyweight champion of the world, Jose Torres, and an introduction by writer Victor Bockris. Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years is an indispensable collector's item for Ali's millions of fans, and an insightful biography that captures a pivotal slice of American pop culture. It is, without question, the handsomest book ever published on this national treasure.
When tragedy devastated a small town, an unlikely source of inspiration pieced the community back together in this dramatic true story. On a Sunday in May 2008, an F5 tornado hit the town of Parkersburg, Iowa, killing eight people and destroying 250 homes and businesses within a span of 34 seconds. The next day, Parkersburg's beloved football coach, Ed Thomas, made a stunning prediction: "God willing, we will play our first home game here on this field this season." One hundred days later, the home team scored a victory on the field they dubbed the Sacred Acre, serving as a galvanizing point for the town to band together and rebuild. But just as Parkersburg was recovering, another disaster struck. While working with a group of football and volleyball players early one morning, one of Thomas's former students walked in and gunned him down at point-blank range. Thomas was only 58 years old. The murder of this hometown hero spread across national news headlines, and Thomas's community reeled from the shock. But his story doesn't end there. As you discover more about this incredible town, you'll learn: That grief is no match for love The life-changing power of faith and forgiveness What it truly means to lean on your community How to use your God-given gifts for good Praise for The Sacred Acre: "Ed Thomas was a man who lived the gospel, loved his family, and believed in doing things the right way. He taught his players that there are no shortcuts and that you will ultimately be judged, not by what you did, but on how you did it. His heart, his faith, and his Christian character are evident in so many of them. I believe that reading this book will give you a better understanding of this special man and the example he left for all of us to follow." --Tony Dungy, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts
Mark Goldie's authoritative and highly readable introduction to the political and religious landscape of Britain during the turbulent era of later Stuart rule.
Forensic genetic technologies are popularly conceptualized and revered as important tools of justice. The research and development of these technologies, however, has been accomplished through the capture of various Indigenous Peoples’ genetic material and a subsequent ongoing genetic servitude. In Forensic Colonialism Mark Munsterhjelm explores how controversial studies of Indigenous Peoples have been used to develop racializing forensic technologies. Making moral and political claims about defending the public from criminals and terrorists, international networks of scientists, police, and security agencies have developed forensic genetic technologies firmly embedded in hierarchies that target and exploit many Indigenous Peoples without their consent. Collections began under the guise of the highly controversial Human Genome Diversity Project and related efforts, including the 1987 sampling of Brazilian Indigenous Peoples as they recovered from near genocide. After 9/11, War on Terror rhetoric began to be used to justify research on ancestry estimation and physical appearance (phenotyping) markers, and since 2019, international research cooperation networks’ use of genetic data from thousands of Uyghurs and other Indigenous Peoples from Xinjiang and Tibet has contributed to a series of controversies. Munsterhjelm concludes that technologies produced by forensic genetics advance the biopolitical security only of privileged populations, and that this depends on imposing race-based divisions between who lives and who dies. Meticulously researched, Forensic Colonialism adds to growing debates over racial categories, their roots in colonialism, and the political hierarchies inherent to forensic genetics.
This second volume of the acclaimed Cambridge Biography of D. H. Lawrence covers the years 1912–22, the period in which Lawrence forged his reputation as one of the greatest and most controversial writers of the twentieth century. During this period Lawrence produced the trio of novels with which he was to revolutionise English fiction over the next decade. It was a painful process: Sons and Lovers was crudely cut by its publisher; The Rainbow was destroyed by court order; and Women in Love took almost three years to find a publisher. This 1996 biography tells the writing life too, tracing the illuminating relations between man and manuscript, without confusing life and art. Drawing on previously unseen information from the Cambridge Editions of the Letters and Works, and original research, fresh light is shed on questions of Lawrence's sexuality, health, quarrels and friendships, which have been more often gossiped or theorised about than scrupulously examined.
Pocket Essentials is a dynamic series of books that are concise, lively, and easy to read. Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. In this book, Mark Campbell provides an informed introduction to the Agatha Christie phenomenon, including a biography of the great author, in-depth profiles of 10 of her most popular characters, analyses of the stories, and a section on film, TV, and stage adaptations. Appendices include an exhaustive biography and an overview of the best Christie websites around.
Whether rocketing to other worlds or galloping through time, science fiction television has often featured the best of the medium. The genre's broad appeal allows youngsters to enjoy fantastic premises and far out stories, while offering adults a sublime way to view the human experience in a dramatic perspective. From Alien Nation to World of Giants, this reference work provides comprehensive episode guides and cast and production credits for 62 science fiction series that were aired from 1959 through 1989. For each episode, a brief synopsis is given, along with the writer and director of the show and the guest cast. Using extensive research and interviews with writers, directors, actors, stuntmen and many of the show's creators, an essay about each of the shows is also provided, covering such issues as its genesis and its network and syndication histories.
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Knowing, measuring and understanding media audiences have become a multi-billion dollar business. But the convention that underpins that business, audience ratings, is in crisis. Rating the Audience is the first book to show why and how audience ratings research became a convention, an agreement, and the first to interrogate the ways that agreement is now under threat. Taking a historical approach, the book looks at the evolution of audience ratings and the survey industry. It goes on to analyse today's media environment, looking at the role of the internet and the increased difficulties it presents for measuring audiences. The book covers all the major players and controversies, such as Facebook's privacy rulings and Google's alliance with Nielsen. Offering the first real comparative study, it will be critical for media students and professionals.
What became of the Gandhian tradition in India following the death of Mahatma Gandhi? Did it quietly die away? Or were there still Indians who believed in his philosophy and methods, committed to continuing his work? These were the questions that sent independent journalist Mark Shepard to India in 1978–79. There he found that the tradition begun by Gandhi was very much alive, in such individuals, groups, and movements as: -- An acclaimed saint who collected over four million acres in gifts of land for the poor. -- A leader of a nationwide protest movement that helped topple India's ruling party in the mid-1970s. -- A Peace Army that fought riots with nonviolence. -- A "Hug the Trees!" movement that physically blocked excessive logging in the Himalayas. -- A People's Court that even tried cases of murder and government corruption. -- A development center helping 400 villages rise from poverty. -- A nationwide movement of villages in which all land was held in common and decisions were made by unanimous consent. Learn about all these and more in this engaging report on the legacy of the twentieth century's greatest peacemaker and revolutionary. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// Mark Shepard is the author of "Mahatma Gandhi and His Myths," "The Community of the Ark," and "Gandhi Today," called by the American Library Association's Booklist "a masterpiece of committed reporting." His writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// "A masterpiece of committed reporting. . . . History that needs to be better known, told in clear, compelling, common language." -- American Library Association Booklist, Feb. 1, 1987 (starred review) "Shepard has done a marvelous job describing individuals and groups keeping the spirit of Gandhi alive in India and throughout the world. His book presents living proof the ideals of the Mahatma will never die." -- Cesar Chavez, founder and President, United Farm Workers of America "This lively book fills a critical gap in our understanding of Gandhi's way. . . . A source of hope and inspiration." -- Joanna Macy, author/activist "A remarkable job of introducing the contemporary Gandhian movement -- readable, honest, challenging." -- Jim Forest, General Secretary, International Fellowship of Reconciliation "A fascinating study. . . . As useful as it is encouraging." -- Michael Nagler, founder, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, University of California at Berkeley, and author, America Without Violence "A fast-moving account of a living tradition. . . . Full of good ideas for peacemakers." -- Virginia Baron, Editor, Fellowship "The author is a committed partisan of Gandhian thought and methods, but he is also a reporter who makes a case that Gandhi is an important figure who keeps on marching. . . . Among [the successful experiments he visited] are some remarkable ones." -- United Press International (UPI), Jan. 18, 1988 "Highly recommended. . . . Will provide encouragement and inspiration to those working for a better world." -- Peace Magazine (Canada), Dec. 1987-Jan. 1988 "Finally there is a small, readable book on the Gandhian legacy. . . . Encouraging and positive." -- Thomas Weber, Legal Studies, La Trobe University (Australia) "May prove to be the most important book of 1987." -- Green Letter, Spring 1987
Effective talent management is about aligning the business's approach to talent with the strategic aims and purpose of the organisation. The core rationale of any talent strategy should be to have a direct positive impact on the organisation's goals but in many cases this is not so. The ideas, principles and approaches outlined here will enable the reader to understand the strategic nature of talent and design a response that meets the needs of their own organisation. Case studies are used to illustrate the concepts and proven methodologies guide the day-to-day practice of the reader. The content will link the strategic intent of HR with the practical actions it takes to make a positive impact on the business's results. The author begins by examining the disconnected nature of talent management in many organisations; how at times it has been a response to trends and seen by many as a bolt on to HR and he proposes a different model, one that links clearly the development of a talent strategy with the achievement of a business strategy. Mark Wilcox summarises succinctly the case for a more strategic approach to talent management, one directly linked to business performance. He concludes that the time is now right for talent management, and therefore many HR managers, to move from a functional support role to one with a direct strategic impact on the business.
Drawing on the difficult-to-access pamphlets, reports, periodical literature and political tracts, this five-volume set reproduces in facsimile a large number of neglected sources relating to rural life in the latter half of the nineteenth century. It is of interest to scholars in nineteenth-century studies and to all social historians.
This new Seminar Study surveys the history of U.S. territorial expansion from the end of the American Revolution until 1860. The book explores the concept of 'manifest destiny' and asks why, if expansion was 'manifest', there was such opposition to almost every expansionist incident. Paying attention to key themes often overlooked - Indian removal and the US government land sales policy, the book looks at both 'foreign' expansion such as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the war with Mexico in the 1840s and 'internal' expansion as American settlers moved west . Finally, the book addresses the most recent historiographical trends in the subject and asks how Americans have dealt with the expansionist legacy.
The State as Cultural Practice offers an original theory of the state. In place of the institutional state, Bevir and Rhodes argue for 'the stateless state', or for a focus on the contingent beliefs and practices of individuals. In short, they put the people back into the study of the state.
This is an economic analysis of pricing and subsidy policies for urban roads and urban public transit in Ontario. Professor Frankena demonstrates the benefits of evaluating the economic merits of policy alternatives, and attempts to determine whether existing policies waste resources or lead to undesirable income transfers among different groups in the population. He concludes that resources are being wasted because the use of urban roads is substantially underpriced during periods of peak demand. He also finds that while there are sound economic justifications for substantial public transit subsidies, the allocation of subsidies by the Ontario government on the basis of capital expenditures can be expected to waste resources, as can the maximization of ridership which is likely to lead to detrimental fare and service policies. In conclusion, Frankena suggests improvements in the systems for charging people for the use of roads and public transit and in the ways that governments provide subsidies.
The aim of this book is to provide readers with a tool to trace the changes in the development and progression of African international organizations. This volume applies a dictionary format and reviews African international organizations as well as selected global and regional bodies with extensive African membership. Entries on prominent Africans who have served with sub-regional, continental and global international organizations as well as including reviews of events and terminology associated with the topic are highlighted. The authors provide an insightful introduction to the subject, an up-to-date chronology, a comprehensive acronym list that includes English and French names for the organizations with Anglophone and Francophone members, and an extensive bibliography. This volume serves the needs of students, scholars, business persons, diplomats, and others with an interest in African international organizations.
This key book provides a multidisciplinary, integrative, current and comprehensive discussion of the dimensions, issues, leading-edge approaches and continuing challenges faced in defining, measuring and developing global leadership.
African International Relations is a thoroughly revised and updated bibliography that contains annotated entries for international books and journal articles in the field of African international relations.
A new, updated edition puts all the Doctors under the microscope—including Matt Smith—with facts, figures and opinions on every Doctor Who story televised Doctor Who has seen many ups and downs in its long and colorful history, and this guide tracks all of them. From humble beginnings in November 1963 to its cancellation in 1989 and eventual resurrection in 2005, Doctor Who has always been a quintessential element of sci-fi, and British popular culture. The spine-chilling theme music, the multidimensional Tardis, the evil metallic Daleks, and the ever-changing face of the Doctor himself have become trademarks of the program's witty, eclectic style. Over the years Doctor Who has embraced such diverse genres as science fiction, horror, westerns, history, romance, adventure, and comedy—but has never strayed from its first and most important remit: telling damn good stories. Eleven Doctors, a multitude of companions, and a veritable cornucopia of monsters and villains: the show has it all. This guide includes sections on TV, radio, cinema, stage, and internet spin-offs; novels and audio adventures; missing episodes; and an extensive website listing and bibliography.
Elements of Mathematical Ecology provides an introduction to classical and modern mathematical models, methods, and issues in population ecology. The first part of the book is devoted to simple, unstructured population models that ignore much of the variability found in natural populations for the sake of tractability. Topics covered include density dependence, bifurcations, demographic stochasticity, time delays, population interactions (predation, competition, and mutualism), and the application of optimal control theory to the management of renewable resources. The second part of this book is devoted to structured population models, covering spatially-structured population models (with a focus on reaction-diffusion models), age-structured models, and two-sex models. Suitable for upper level students and beginning researchers in ecology, mathematical biology and applied mathematics, the volume includes numerous clear line diagrams that clarify the mathematics, relevant problems thoughout the text that aid understanding, and supplementary mathematical and historical material that enrich the main text.
A skilled moral theologian, Benedictine Father Mark O’Keefe leads God-seekers to focus attention on St. John of the Cross’s teaching in The Ascent of Mount Carmel: The essence of the spiritual journey is union with God through the practice of the virtues, especially faith, hope, and love. It‘s virtuous living that enables us to truly love God and be conformed to God in divine union. For St. John, religious “experiences” are not the essence of the spiritual journey at all, nor is asceticism for its own sake. John’s emphasis on the nada is to lead us to liberating emptiness -- authentic human freedom-- that equips us to be filled with the divine life. At the journey’s summit, we find the God who is Love. This book is an insightful companion to The Ascent of Mount Carmel. Ideal for personal and group study, Carmelite formation, college courses, and a must for every library.
It is impossible to view the news at present without hearing talk of crisis. This timely book looks at how three major crises – the economy, pandemic and climate – are related to the crisis of work, making it more precarious, intense and unequal. Providing an original and critical synthesis of recent trends in the field, expert scholars offer a programme for transcending the crisis of work. Offering a timely contribution to understanding the important issues facing the world, this book presents an important new way of thinking about work in contemporary societies.
In the debut issue of the peer-reviewed academic journal Restoration Earth, readers are given an overview of the topics and goals of the journal. RE Issue 1 contains articles on environmental philosophy, environmental education, ecopsychology, ecotherapy, evolution, shamanism, as well as short fiction, photography, and poetry exploring the relationship between human civilization and the natural world. Contributors included in this journal: Arne Naess, Alan Drengson, Florence Shepard, Michael Caley, Jorge Conesa-Sevilla, Vidya Sarveswaran, Mark Glasgow, Meredith Ball, Lynne Elson, Anne Westlund, Evin Okçuoğlu, Molly Remer, Tanya Collings, Simon Robinson, Christopher Westlund, Katherine Batten MacDowell, and Mark A. Schroll.
For God, Country and Coca-Cola is the unauthorized history of the great American soft drink and the company that makes it. From its origins as a patent medicine in Reconstruction Atlanta through its rise as the dominant consumer beverage of the American century, the story of Coke is as unique, tasty, and effervescent as the drink itself. With vivid portraits of the entrepreneurs who founded the company -- and of the colorful cast of hustlers, swindlers, ad men, and con men who have made Coca-Cola the most recognized trademark in the world -- this is business history at its best: in fact, "The Real Thing.
Still going after thirty years, The Fall are one of the most distinctive British bands, their music - odd,spare, cranky and repetitious - an acknowledged influence on The Smiths, The Happy Mondays, Nirvana and Franz Ferdinand. And Mark E. Smith IS The Fall - 47 members have come and gone over the years yet he remains its charismatic leader, a professional outsider and all-round enemy of compromise, a true enigma. There have been a number of biographies of the legendary Smith, but this is the first time he has opened up in a full autobiography. For the first time we get to hear his full, candid take on the ups and downs of a band as notorious for its in-house fighting as for its great music; and on a life that has endured prison in America, drugs, bankruptcy, divorce, and the often bleak results of a legendary thirst.
A historiographical analysis of human geography and a social history of nationalist separatism and cultural identity in southern Senegal. This book is a spatial history of the conflict in Casamance, the portion of Senegal located south of The Gambia. Mark W. Deets traces the origins of the conflict back to the start of the colonial period in a select group of contested spaces and places where the seeds of nationalism and separatism took root. Each chapter examines the development of a different piece of the still unrealized Casamançais nation: river, rice field, forest, school, and stadium. Each of these locations forms a spatial discourse of grievance that transformed space into place, rendering a separatist nation from the pieces where a particular Casamançais identity emerged. However, not every Casamançais identified with these spaces and places in the same way. Many refused to tie their beloved culture and landscape to the project of separatism, revealing a layer of counter-mapping below that of the separatist leaders like Father Augustin Diamacoune Senghor and Mamadou “Nkrumah” Sané. The Casamance conflict began on December 26, 1982. After an oath-taking ceremony in a sacred forest on the edge of Ziguinchor, hundreds of separatists from the Movement of Democratic Forces of the Casamance (MFDC) marched into the town to remove the Senegalese flag in front of the regional governor’s office and replace it with a white flag. The marchers were met by gendarmes who quickly found themselves outnumbered. Government surveillance, arrests, and interrogations followed into the next year, when gendarmes went to the sacred forest to stop another MFDC meeting. This time, the separatists greeted the gendarmes with a burst of violence that left four dead, their bodies mutilated. Senegalese security responded with force, driving the separatists—armed only with improvised rifles, bows and arrows, and machetes—into the forest. The Casamance conflict continues to the present day, so far having left more than five thousand dead, four hundred killed or maimed by land mines, and another eight hundred thousand living in a state of insecurity, with limited possibility for economic development. Ordinary Casamançais—on the Casamance River, in the rice fields, in the forests, in the schools, and in the sports stadiums—have demonstrated a diversity of opinions about the separatist project. Whether by the Senegalese state or by the separatists, these ordinary Casamançais have refused to be mapped. They have made the Casamance “a country of defiance.”
Sir John Lubbock (1834–1913), first Lord Avebury, was a leading figure in the scientific, political and economic world of Victorian Britain, and his life provides an illuminating case study into the ways that these different facets were interlinked during the nineteenth century. Born into a Kent banking family, Lubbock's education was greatly influenced by his neighbour, Charles Darwin, and after the publication of The Origin of Species, he was one of his most vocal supporters. A pioneer of both entomology and archaeology and a successful author, Lubbock also ran the family bank from 1865 until his death in 1913, and served as a Liberal MP from 1870 until his ennoblement in 1900. In all these roles he proved extremely successful, but it is the inter-relations between science, politics and business that forms the core of this book. In particular it explores the way in which Lubbock acted as a link between the scientific worlds of Darwin, Huxley and Tyndall, the political world of Gladstone and Chamberlain and the business world of Edison and Carnegie. By tying these threads together this study shows the important role Lubbock played in defining and popularising the Victorian ideal of progress and its relationship to society, culture and Empire.
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