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The great degeneration: how institutions decay and economies die
By Niall Ferguson. 2013
An examination of institutional dysfunction in the Western world argues that such values as a free market and representative government…
are being compromised while future generations are inheriting unmanageable levels of debt. 2013.A collection of games, easy-to-make crafts and projects, and festive menus that make the planning a theme party easy and…
fun. Each theme plan includes a list of read-aloud books and movies to make the party complete.The frackers: the outrageous inside story of the new billionaire wildcatters
By Gregory Zuckerman. 2014
In five years, the United States has seen a historic burst of oil and natural gas production, easing our insatiable…
hunger for energy. A new drilling process called fracking has made us the world's fastest growing energy power, on track to pass Saudi Arabia by 2020. But despite headlines and controversy, no previous book has shown how the revolution really happened. The Frackers tells the dramatic tale of how a group of ambitious and headstrong wildcatters ignored the ridicule of experts and derision of colleagues to pursue massive, long-overlooked deposits. Against all odds, they changed the world- and made astonishing fortunes in the process. Zuckerman's exclusive access enabled him to get close to men like George Mitchell, who developed a new way to drill for gas in shale rock; Harold Hamm, who discovered so much oil he's now worth more than the estate of Steve Jobs; and Aubrey McClendon, who lost more than billion on a misguided gambit. Zuckerman shows how the frackers are now using their wealth to shake up Hollywood, education, politics, sports, and other fields, much like the Rockefellers and Gettys before them. He also explores the debate over the environmental risks of fracking, and whether those risks are worth it for the United States to achieve energy independence and for the rest of the world to follow. 2014.The frigate Pallada
By Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov. 1987
The 19th century Russian author's account of an 1852-1853 journey from St. Petersburg around the Cape of Good Hope, up…
to Japan on the frigate "Pallada", concluding with an overland trek across Siberia. c1987. Uniform title: Fregat "Pallada".The four loves
By C. S Lewis. 1960
The four loves C.S. Lewis distinguishes here are Affection, Friendship, Eros and Charity. He observes how each merges into another,…
without losing sight of the necessary and real difference between them. 1960.The film club: a true story of a father and son
By David Gilmour. 2007
The true story of author Gilmour's decision to let his 16-year-old son drop out of high school, on the condition…
that the boy agree to watch three films a week with him. Examines how those years changed both their lives. From French New Wave and Kurosawa to De Palma, film noir, and Billy Wilder, Gilmour describes key moments in each film, as he teaches his son about life and the vagaries of growing up through the power of the movies. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Canada Reads 2012. 2007.The first and last freedom
By Jiddu Krishnamurti. 1978
The author cuts away symbols and false associations in the search for pure truth and perfect freedom. Through discussions on…
suffering, fear, gossip, sex and other topics, Krishnamurti’s quest becomes the reader's, an undertaking of tremendous significance. 1978.The forgotten man: a new history of the Great Depression
By Amity Shlaes. 2007
Economics reporter analyzes the Great Depression era in the United States and posits that federal intervention in the economy lengthened…
its duration. Considers economic plans from members of Franklin Roosevelt's brain trust and alternate solutions of outsiders such as African American Father Divine and Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson. 2007.The fate of Rome: climate, disease, and the end of an empire (ITK audio)
By Kyle Harper. 2017
The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played…
in the collapse of Rome's power -- a story of nature's triumph over human ambition. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes readers from Rome's pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted. Harper describes how the Romans were resilient in the face of enormous environmental stress, until the besieged empire could no longer withstand the combined challenges of a "little ice age" and recurrent outbreaks of bubonic plague. A poignant reflection on humanity's intimate relationship with the environment, The Fate of Rome provides a sweeping account of how one of history's greatest civilizations encountered, endured, yet ultimately succumbed to the cumulative burden of nature's violence. 2017.The end of the river: dams, drought and déjà vu on the Rio São Francisco
By Brian J Harvey. 2008
A biologist searches for a solution that will save many fish species from life-threatening dams. His adventures take him from…
a fisheries patrol boat on the Fraser River to the great Tsukiji fish market in Japan, with stops in the Philippines, Thailand, and assorted South American countries. Portrays fishermen, fish farmers, and even fish cops in a new light, as well as scientists, shysters, and some very drunk, hairy Brazilian men in thongs. Some strong language, some descriptions of sex, and some descriptions of violence. c2008.The existentialist's survival guide: how to live authentically in an inauthentic age
By Gordon Daniel Marino. 2018
While offering readers a useful primer on Existentialism as an animating body of thought, Gordon Marino distills and delivers the…
life-altering insights Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Albert Camus, and other Existentialists articulate for becoming more emotionally attuned human beings. 2018.The Etruscans
By Michael Grant. 1980
Author reviews the latest scholarly thinking about the Bronze Age origins and subsequent development of civilization in Etruria. A major…
section of the book deals with the geographical and cultural history of the major Etruscan city-states and their territories at the height of their power. 1980.The ethical canary: science, society and the human spirit
By Margaret A Somerville. 2000
As science and technology continue to advance, many moral and ethical questions begin to arise. The author, a leading authority…
on medicine, ethics and law, presents an examination of the various ethical concerns human society is currently facing. Addressing everything from cloning to genetically modified foods, this volume illuminates some of the most controversial and pressing issues of our time.The end of growth
By Jeff Rubin. 2012
Economist and resource analyst Jeff Rubin is certain that the world's governments are getting it wrong - instead of moving…
us toward economic recovery, measures being taken around the globe right now are digging us into a deeper hole. Both politicians and economists are missing the fact that the real engine of economic growth has always been cheap, abundant fuel and resources, but that era is over. The end of cheap oil signals the end of growth - and the end of easy answers to renewing prosperity. c2012.The epic of Gilgamesh (Penguin classics)
By N. K Sandars. 1977
English version of the adventures of the great Mesopotamian King of Uruk in the third millennium B.C., including his fruitless…
search for immortality and his friendship with Enkidu, the wild man from the hills. Also alludes to the legend of the Flood, agreeing in many details with the Biblical story of Noah. 1977.The essential Darwin
By Charles Darwin, Mark Ridley. 1987
Charles Darwin was unusual in that he was a scientist who wrote for the general reader and this selection contains…
passages from his nine most important books. From the "Origin", his explanation of natural selection and his summary of the case for evolution; from "The Descent of Man", human intelligence and morality, and his theory of sex differences; and from "Coral Reefs", the wholly original and still accepted theory of the origin of coral atolls. 1987.The happiest kids in the world: how Dutch parents help their kids (and themselves) by doing less
By Rina Mae Acosta, Michele Hutchison. 2017
Rina Mae Acosta and Michele Hutchison--an American and a Brit, both married to Dutchmen and raising their kids in the…
Netherlands--report back on what makes Dutch kids so happy and well adjusted. 2017.The horizontal Everest: extreme journeys on Ellesmere Island
By Jerry Kobalenko. 2002
Ellesmere Island lays a mere 450 miles from the North Pole and has the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere…
east of the Rockies. For more than a decade, Kobalenko has traced the routes of explorers and Inuits, and broken many new trails across the frozen terrain of Ellesmere Island. He investigates the motives and mistakes of the island's first explorers, searches for clues to the mysterious disappearance of scientist-explorer Dr. Hans Kruger and the murder of an Inuit guide. 2002.The holy blood and the holy grail
By Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln. 1982
Three BBC filmmakers offer a controversial and unorthodox view of the life of Christ, based on cryptic documents discovered by…
a French priest in 1891. The authors infer that Jesus married Mary Magdalen and fathered children whose descendents became European royalty, and that the bloodline of Jesus, in the Merovingian dynasty of France, continues to the present. Bestseller 1982.The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: Volume 3
By Edward Gibbon. 2008
A major literary achievement of the 18th century published in six volumes. Volume I was published in 1776; Volumes II…
and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, VI in 1788-89. The books cover the period of the Roman Empire after Marcus Aurelius, from just before 180 to 1453 and beyond, concluding in 1590. They take as their material the behaviour and decisions that led to the decay and eventual fall of the Roman Empire in the East and West, offering an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell. Volume 3 contains chapters 27 to 38. 2008.