Poems for the Twilight is a book of forty poems by Robert E. Watson. They range from grief as in At a Brothers Coffin (which asks, To what new friends and what strange place / And where in the circling, infinite void of space / Has gone that light which made him feel / Lifes joy and pain and loves appeal? ) to anger as in Point of Order (which asks after the death of a friend and his family in a car accident, Who was it brought about / This obscene transformation / After so many afflictions? / Was it the Universe Man / With his contract in his pocket?/ Or was it moldering nature, / Dragging its corrupted foot and reaching out with decomposing fingers / For the closest throat? With dead eyes / It sees no distinction between the cockroach / And the bleating lamb torn by salivating jaws). Yes, this book is contemplation in a mystic world.
Watson, an enlisted man in both the army and the navy, served in Florida, South and North Carolina, and Tennessee. His diary provides a glimpse into the difficulties endured in terms of food and shelter of the ordinary Civil War soldier. In addition, Watson recorded major events that include the Battle of Chickamauga, the scuttling of the USS Savannah, and the battle for Fort Fisher. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
People worry that computers, robots, interstellar aliens, or Satan himself – brilliant, stealthy, ruthless creatures – may seize control of our world and destroy what’s uniquely valuable about the human race. Cultural Evolution and its Discontents shows that our cultural systems – especially those whose last names are "ism" – are already doing that, and doing it so adeptly that we seldom even notice. Like other parasites, they’ve blindly evolved to exploit us for their own survival. Creative arts and humanistic scholarship are our best tools for diagnosis and cure. The assemblages of ideas that have survived, like the assemblages of biological cells that have survived, are the ones good at protecting and reproducing themselves. They aren’t necessarily the ones that guide us toward our most admirable selves or our healthiest future. Relying so heavily on culture to protect our uniquely open minds from cognitive overload makes us vulnerable to hijacking by the systems that co-evolve with us. Recognizing the selfish Darwinian functions of these systems makes sense of many aspects of history, politics, economics, and popular culture. What drove the Protestant Reformation? Why have the Beatles, The Hunger Games, and paranoid science-fiction thrived, and how was hip-hop co-opted? What alliances helped neoliberalism out-compete Communism, and what alliances might enable environmentalism to overcome consumerism? Why are multiculturalism and university-trained elites provoking working-class nationalist backlash? In a digital age, how can we use numbers without having them use us instead? Anyone who has wondered how our species can be so brilliant and so stupid at the same time may find an answer here: human mentalities are so complex that we crave the simplifications provided by our cultures, but the cultures that thrive are the ones that blind us to any interests that don’t correspond to their own.
Traces the development of the First Lady's role from obscurity into an influential force in politics, complete with office, staff and budgetary resources to rival those of key presidential advisors. The author also explores the paradoxes surrounding activism in the office.
The most horrific struggle of the American Revolution occurred just 100 yards off New York, where more men died aboard a rotting prison ship than were lost to combat during the entirety of the war. Moored off the coast of Brooklyn until the end of the war, the derelict ship, the HMS Jersey, was a living hell for thousands of Americans either captured by the British or accused of disloyalty. Crammed below deck -- a shocking one thousand at a time -- without light or fresh air, the prisoners were scarcely fed food and water. Disease ran rampant and human waste fouled the air as prisoners suffered mightily at the hands of brutal British and Hessian guards. Throughout the colonies, the mere mention of the ship sparked fear and loathing of British troops. It also sparked a backlash of outrage as newspapers everywhere described the horrors onboard the ghostly ship. This shocking event, much like the better-known Boston Massacre before it, ended up rallying public support for the war. Revealing for the first time hundreds of accounts culled from old newspapers, diaries, and military reports, award-winning historian Robert P. Watson follows the lives and ordeals of the ship's few survivors to tell the astonishing story of the cursed ship that killed thousands of Americans and yet helped secure victory in the fight for independence.
George Washington is remembered for leading the Continental Army to victory, presiding over the Constitution, and forging a new nation, but few know the story of his involvement in the establishment of a capital city and how it nearly tore the United States apart. In George Washington’s Final Battle, Robert P. Watson brings this tale to life, telling how the country's first president tirelessly advocated for a capital on the shores of the Potomac. Washington envisioned and had a direct role in planning many aspects of the city that would house the young republic. In doing so, he created a landmark that gave the fledgling democracy credibility, united a fractious country, and created a sense of American identity. Although Washington died just months before the federal government's official relocation, his vision and influence live on in the city that bears his name. This little-known story of founding intrigue throws George Washington’s political acumen into sharp relief and provides a historical lesson in leadership and consensus-building that remains relevant today. This book will fascinate anyone interested in the founding period, the American presidency, and the history of Washington, DC.
Engaging and accessible account of the war that helped forge the American nation. The War of 1812, sometimes called Americas forgotten war, was a curious affair. At the time, it was dismissed as Mr. Madisons War. Later it was hailed by some as Americas Second War for Independence and ridiculed by others, such as President Harry Truman, as the silliest damned war we ever had. The conflict, which produced several great heroes and future presidents, was all this and more. In Americas First Crisis Robert P. Watson tells the stories of the most intriguing battles and leaders and shares the most important blunders and victories of the war. What started out as an effort to invade Canada, fueled by anger over the harassment of American merchant ships by the Royal Navy, soon turned into an all-out effort to fend off an invasion by Britain. Armies marched across the Canadian border and sacked villages; navies battled on Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain, and the worlds oceans; both the American and Canadian capitals were burned; and, in a final irony, the United States won its greatest victory in New Orleansafter the peace treaty had been signed. Watson has produced a highly readable and lively account of the key battles, commanders, and events of this forgotten war. Watson presents this important war as not only unnecessary and filled with intrigue, but a conflict that ended up shaping both American nationalism and the geopolitical future of the continent. This book accomplishes its goal of providing a new understanding of the importance of this underappreciated war. Richard M. Yon, United States Military Academy This thorough, informative, and engaging narrative of the War of 1812 will be of great interest to scholars, students, and anyone interested in military history and American politics. It brings battles from over two hundred years ago to life and illustrates why studying this war is essential to understanding conflicts over US foreign and defense policy today. It combines skillful historical research with careful attention to major institutional developments in the American political system. Meena Bose, Hofstra University Professor Watson provides marvelous insights into Americas first declaredthough least known and understoodwar. From British impressments to diplomatic missteps, the reasons for this war that almost started in 1807 are illuminated. The rookie mistakes that nearly cost America her newly won independence, the defensive stands that serve as a source of pride for many Canadians, and the exhausted adventures of British crusaders are brought to life, as the characters, ships, and battles are described with vivid detail and in a straightforward manner. This book will please students of American history interested in both diplomacy and war and also satisfy the casual reader looking for greater knowledge and awareness about the War of 1812. Sean D. Foreman, coeditor of The Roads to Congress 2012
First published in 1990. The aim of the series is to define and defend a comprehensive aesthetic, both theoretical and practical for the teaching of the arts. There can be little doubt that of the six great arts which the Library of Aesthetic Education is committed to defending and defining, film has been the most ignored in the curriculum of our schools. There is a grand irony in this for film is not only the one unique art form developed in our own century but also the most unequivocally popular. Film was envisaged as part of a system of communications which had to be decoded in terms of ideology and contextualized in terms of power and control. Robert Watson’s Film and Television in Education with its telling subtitle An Aesthetic Approach to the Moving Image sets out to remedy the neglect.
Built in 1927, the German ocean liner SS Cap Arcona was the greatest ship since the RMS Titanic and one of the most celebrated luxury liners in the world. When the Nazis seized control in Germany, she was stripped down for use as a floating barracks and troop transport. Later, during the war, Hitler's minister, Joseph Goebbels, cast her as the "star" in his epic propaganda film about the sinking of the legendary Titanic. Following the film's enormous failure, the German navy used the Cap Arcona to transport German soldiers and civilians across the Baltic, away from the Red Army's advance. In the Third Reich's final days, the ill-fated ship was packed with thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Without adequate water, food, or sanitary facilities, the prisoners suffered as they waited for the end of the war. Just days before Germany surrendered, the Cap Arcona was mistakenly bombed by the British Royal Air Force, and nearly all of the prisoners were killed in the last major tragedy of the Holocaust and one of history's worst maritime disasters. Although the British government sealed many documents pertaining to the ship's sinking, Robert P. Watson has unearthed forgotten records, conducted many interviews, and used over 100 sources, including diaries and oral histories, to expose this story. As a result, The Nazi Titanic is a riveting and astonishing account of an enigmatic ship that played a devastating role in World War II and the Holocaust.
The last days on earth; a story of familial love; a detective back from the war struggles to find meaning; an unusual relationship between a pigeon and a roach. These stories, poems and more are brought to you from the vibrant imaginations of the young authors found within the pages of Dark Sketches.
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