A state-of-the-art overview of natural hazard risk assessment, for researchers and professionals in natural-hazard science, risk management and environmental science.
Whether curled up on a sofa with a good mystery, lounging by the pool with a steamy romance, or brooding over a classic novel, Americans love to read. Despite the distractions of modern living, nothing quite satisfies many individuals more than a really good book. And regardless of how one accesses that book—through a tablet, a smart phone, or a good, old-fashioned hardcover—those choices have been tallied for decades. In Bestseller: A Century of America’s Favorite Books, Robert McParland looks at the reading tastes of a nation—from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Through extensive research, McParland provides context for the literature that appealed to the masses, from low-brow potboilers like Forever Amber to Pulitzer-Prize winners such as To Kill a Mockingbird. Decade by decade, McParland discusses the books that resonated with the American public and shows how current events and popular culture shaped the reading habits of millions. Profiles of authors with frequent appearances—from Ernest Hemingway to Danielle Steel—are included, along with standout titles that readers return to year after year. A snapshot of America and its love of reading through the decades, this volume informs and entertains while also providing a handy reference of the country’s most popular books. For those wanting to learn more about the history of American culture through its reading habits, Bestseller: A Century of America’s Favorite Books is a must-read.
Whispering Death is a shattering account of an eighteen-year-old aviator from the streets of America to Vietnam, into the Macomb world of a Secret War run by the CIA, fought with clandestine forces, the Hmong hill people, and a vast and varied air armada. "I highly recommend this book to be read for knowledge of how the Secret War in Laos was fought and why we owe the Hmong so much." Brigadier General Harry C. Aderholt, USAF, Ret. "A superb tale of aviation adventure in the combat skies of Southeast Asia woven with extraordinary skill. This is a gripping, personal story from a new perspective. A must-read for fans of military aviation during the Vietnam War era." Larry Sanborn-Raven FAC-call sign: Sandy "Whispering Death is one of the most comprehensive and fascinating books ever written about America's most covert war. It embodies the desperate fight for freedom these Americans and Hmong faced together, bound as eternal brothers and sisters. And in the end how an American government left my people to die alone." Yang Chee, President, Lao-Hmong American Coalition
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • This incredible true history of the colonization of Australia explores how the convict transportation system created the country we know today. "One of the greatest non-fiction books I’ve ever read ... Hughes brings us an entire world." —Los Angeles Times Digging deep into the dark history of England's infamous efforts to move 160,000 men and women thousands of miles to the other side of the world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Hughes has crafted a groundbreaking, definitive account of the settling of Australia. Tracing the European presence in Australia from early explorations through the rise and fall of the penal colonies, and featuring 16 pages of illustrations and 3 maps, The Fatal Shore brings to life the history of the country we thought we knew.
This book is about southern Africa's long walk to freedom, about the overturning of colonial rule in the northern territories and the dissolution of backs-to-the-wall white settler suzerainty first in what became Zimbabwe and then in South Africa. Chapters on the individual countries detail the stages along their sometimes complicated and tortuous struggle to attain the political New Zion. We learn how and why the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland failed, how and why apartheid eventually collapsed, and exactly how the various components of this heavily white conquered and later white oppressed domain transitioned via diverse fits and starts into today's assemblage of proud, politically-charged, and still mostly fragmented nation-states. But what did the new republics make of their hard won freedoms? That is the subject of more than half of this book. Having liberated themselves successfully, several soon dismantled democratic safeguards, established effective single-party states, closed their economies, deprived citizens of human rights and civil liberties, and exchanged economic progress for varieties of central planning experiments and stunted forms of protected economic endeavors. Only Botswana, of the new entities, embraced full democracy and good governance. The others, even South Africa, at first tightly regimented their economies and attempted severely to limit the degrees of economic freedom and social progress that citizens could enjoy. Corruption prevailed everywhere except Botswana. Today, as the chapters on contemporary southern Africa reveal, most of the southern half of the African continent is returning, if sometimes struggling, to return to the patterns probity and good governance that many countries abandoned in the decades after independence. Now there is a resurgence of high performance, which this book celebrates"--
This work, a verbatim transcription of the three successful charters defining the scope and authority of the Virginia Company and listing its stockholders in England and Virginia, is an important companion work to Professor Craven's booklet above. The text of the three charters is taken from a contemporary copy discovered among the Chancery Rolls of the Public Record Office in London shortly before this work's original publication. The accompanying documents serve to illustrate some of the practical issues pertaining to the administration of the colony, and, taken together, this collection may be construed as the Virginia "constitution" for the colony's first fifteen years of existence.
In his third volume on musical expressive meaning, Robert S. Hatten examines virtual agency in music from the perspectives of movement, gesture, embodiment, topics, tropes, emotion, narrativity, and performance. Distinguished from the actual agency of composers and performers, whose intentional actions either create music as notated or manifest music as significant sound, virtual agency is inferred from the implied actions of those sounds, as they move and reveal tendencies within music-stylistic contexts. From our most basic attributions of sources for perceived energies in music, to the highest realm of our engagement with musical subjectivity, Hatten explains how virtual agents arose as distinct from actual ones, how unspecified actants can take on characteristics of (virtual) human agents, and how virtual agents assume various actorial roles. Along the way, Hatten demonstrates some of the musical means by which composers and performers from different historical eras have staged and projected various levels of virtual agency, engaging listeners imaginatively and interactively within the expressive realms of their virtual and fictional musical worlds.
This volume provides an innovative and detailed overview of the book publishing industry, including details about the business processes in editorial, marketing and production. The work explores the complex issues that occur every day in the publishing industry.
Small though they were, PT boats played a key role in World War II, carrying out an astonishing variety of missions where fast, versatile, and strongly armed vessels were needed. Called "weapons of opportunity," they met the enemy at closer quarters and with greater frequency than any other type of surface craft. Among the most famous PT commanders was John F. Kennedy, whose courageous actions in the Pacific are now well known to the American public. The author of the book, another distinguished PT boat commander in the Pacific, compiled this history of PT-boat operations in World War II for the U.S. Navy shortly after V-J Day, when memories were fresh and records easily assessable. The book was first made available to the public in 1962 after Kennedy's inauguration as president of the United States interest in PTs was at a peak. Bulkley provides a wealth of facts about these motor torpedo boats, whose vast range of operation covered two oceans as well as the Mediterranean and the English Channel. Although their primary mission was to attack surface ships and craft close to shore, they were also used effectively to lay mines and smoke screens, to rescue downed aviators, and to carry out intelligence and raider operations. The author gives special attention to the crews, paying well-deserved tribute to their heroism, skill, and sacrifice that helped to win the war.
No longer a test of classical knowledge, the modern crossword is a challenging labyrinth of clever clues, timely puns, and computer-age acronyms that baffle even puzzle afficionados. Completely revised and expanded, The Dell Crossword Dictionary ends the search for precisely the right word by providing a ready reference as up-to-date as this morning's puzzle. Including a thoroughly cross-referenced "Word Finder," the most extensive "Name-Finder" in any dictionary, and countless special trivia sections, this comprehensive, easy to use reference tools is a must-have for any puzzle fan.
The third edition of The Ecology and Silviculture of Oaks is an updated and expanded edition that explores oak forests as responsive ecosystems. New chapters emphasize the importance of fire in sustaining and managing oak forests, the effects of a changing climate, and advanced artificial regeneration techniques. This new edition expands on silvicultural methods for restoring and sustaining oak woodlands and savannahs, and on management of ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat. It also incorporates new material on evaluating landscape-scale, and cumulative effects of management action compared with inaction. Nine of the fifteen chapters cover updated information on the geographic distribution of US oaks, oak regeneration dynamics, site productivity, stocking and stand development, even- and uneven-aged silvicultural methods, and growth and yield. This edition includes a new section with colour illustrations for improved visualization of complex relationships. This book is intended for forest and wildlife managers, ecologists, silviculturists, environmentalists, and students of those fields.
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