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There Is No Alternative
By Claire Berlinski. 2008
Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to a nation be in terminal decline-- ungovernable and rapidly headed for global economic…
irrelevance. Three decades later, it is one of the richest and most influential countries in Europe and Margaret Thatcher deserves all the credit. As journalist and conservative pundit Claire Berlinski shows, Thatcher's transformation of Britain was no simple task. Her jarring economic reforms often came at a high human cost as inefficient subsidies, welfare programs, and industries were abandoned entirely. While Thatcher's legacy has been the subject of passionate debate, Berlinski argues that we should be on her side. Socialism is on the rise and only countries willing to abide by Thatcher's philosophy will prevail. ""There Is No Alternative"" provides a valuable account of Margaret Thatcher's visionary triumphs in the fight for free enterprise.Something That Will Surprise the World
By Susan Dunn. 2006
The Founding Fathers: subject of hundreds of biographies, they are rarely allowed to speak to us in their own words.…
But it was their words and ideas that mattered most to them. Here, finally, these towering figures come together in one volume-in dialogue with one another, and with us. The Founders were thinking revolutionaries-they read, questioned, debated, and, most of all, wrote. They theorized about government and political institutions; considered the problem of parties and factions; and reflected on religion, education, happiness, and even on love. In this volume, distinguished historian Susan Dunn brings together the Founders’ most important letters, speeches, and essays and sets them in the context of their lives and times.Outpost
By Christopher R. Hill. 2014
An "inside the room" memoir from one of our most distinguished ambassadors who--in a career of service to the country--was…
sent to some of the most dangerous outposts of American diplomacy. From the wars in the Balkans to the brutality of North Korea to the endless war in Iraq, this is the real life of an American diplomat.Hill was on the front lines in the Balkans at the breakup of Yugoslavia. He takes us from one-on-one meetings with the dictator Milosevic, to Bosnia and Kosovo, to the Dayton conference, where a truce was brokered. Hill draws upon lessons learned as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon early on in his career and details his prodigious experience as a US ambassador. He was the first American Ambassador to Macedonia; Ambassador to Poland, where he also served in the depth of the cold war; Ambassador to South Korea and chief disarmament negotiator in North Korea; and Hillary Clinton's hand-picked Ambassador to Iraq. Hill's account is an adventure story of danger, loss of comrades, high stakes negotiations, and imperfect options. There are fascinating portraits of war criminals (Mladic, Karadzic), of presidents and vice presidents (Clinton, Bush and Cheney, and Obama), of Secretaries of State (Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Hillary Clinton), of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and of Ambassadors Richard Holbrooke and Lawrence Eagleburger. Hill writes bluntly about the bureaucratic warfare in DC and expresses strong criticism of America's aggressive interventions and wars of choice.Arendt and America
By Richard H. King. 2015
German-Jewish political philosopher Hannah Arendt (1906-75) fled from the Nazis to New York in 1941, and during the next thirty…
years in America she wrote her best-known and most influential works, such as The Human Condition, The Origins of Totalitarianism, and On Revolution. Yet, despite the fact that a substantial portion of her oeuvre was written in America, not Europe, no one has directly considered the influence of America on her thought--until now. In Arendt and America, historian Richard H. King argues that while all of Arendt's work was haunted by her experience of totalitarianism, it was only in her adopted homeland that she was able to formulate the idea of the modern republic as an alternative to totalitarian rule. Situating Arendt within the context of U. S. intellectual, political, and social history, King reveals how Arendt developed a fascination with the political thought of the Founding Fathers. King also re-creates her intellectual exchanges with American friends and colleagues, such as Dwight Macdonald and Mary McCarthy, and shows how her lively correspondence with sociologist David Riesman helped her understand modern American culture and society. In the last section of Arendt and America, King sets out the context in which the Eichmann controversy took place and follows the debate about "the banality of evil" that has continued ever since. As King shows, Arendt's work, regardless of focus, was shaped by postwar American thought, culture, and politics, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War. For Arendt, the United States was much more than a refuge from Nazi Germany; it was a stimulus to rethink the political, ethical, and historical traditions of human culture. This authoritative combination of intellectual history and biography offers a unique approach for thinking about the influence of America on Arendt's ideas and also the effect of her ideas on American thought.Breaking Down is Waking up
By Russell Razzaque. 2014
Razzaque explores an entirely new way of understanding psychological and mental distress based on clinical case studies from a mental…
hospital. His extraordinary conclusion: mental illness can be a form of spiritual awakening. The book describes new forms of treatment for mental illness inspired by Eastern approaches and centering, in particular, around practices such as mindfulness and meditation. These therapies offer both patients and their families the inspiring idea that the approach to their psychological difficulties should go beyond just "treating" episodes of mental illness but also, where possible, help the individual to complete the process of spiritual growth they have begun. Dr Razzaque argues passionately that our society as a whole could benefit from developing an awareness of the spiritual power of this process of transformation.Written in the tradition of the bestselling medical doctors, Stanford's Irvin D. Yalom and Britain's Oliver Sacks, Breaking Down is Waking Up, will speak to both professionals in the field of mental health as well as those suffering from mental illness, their family and friends and, indeed, all those who have an interest in exploring the deepest layers of what it really means to be human.American Brutus
By Michael W. Kauffman. 2004
It is a tale as familiar as our history primers: A deranged actor, John Wilkes Booth, killed Abraham Lincoln in…
Ford's Theatre, escaped on foot, and eluded capture for twelve days until he met his fiery end in a Virginia tobacco barn. In the national hysteria that followed, eight others were arrested and tried; four of those were executed, four imprisoned. Therein lie all the classic elements of a great thriller. But the untold tale is even more fascinating.Now, in American Brutus, Michael W. Kauffman, one of the foremost Lincoln assassination authorities, takes familiar history to a deeper level, offering an unprecedented, authoritative account of the Lincoln murder conspiracy. Working from a staggering array of archival sources and new research, Kauffman sheds new light on the background and motives of John Wilkes Booth, the mechanics of his plot to topple the Union government, and the trials and fates of the conspirators.Piece by piece, Kauffman explains and corrects common misperceptions and analyzes the political motivation behind Booth's plan to unseat Lincoln, in whom the assassin saw a treacherous autocrat, "an American Caesar." In preparing his study, Kauffman spared no effort getting at the truth: He even lived in Booth's house, and re-created key parts of Booth's escape. Thanks to Kauffman's discoveries, readers will have a new understanding of this defining event in our nation's history, and they will come to see how public sentiment about Booth at the time of the assassination and ever since has made an accurate account of his actions and motives next to impossible-until now.In nearly 140 years there has been an overwhelming body of literature on the Lincoln assassination, much of it incomplete and oftentimes contradictory. In American Brutus, Kauffman finally makes sense of an incident whose causes and effects reverberate to this day. Provocative, absorbing, utterly cogent, at times controversial, this will become the definitive text on a watershed event in American history.From the Hardcover edition.General George Washington
By Edward G. Lengel. 2005
Much has been written in the past two centuries about George Washington the statesman and "father of his country." Less…
often discussed is Washington's military career, including his exploits as a young officer and his performance as the Revolutionary War commander in chief. Now, in a revealing work of historical biography, Edward Lengel has written the definitive account of George Washington the soldier.Based largely on Washington's personal papers, this engrossing book paints a vivid, factual portrait of a man to whom lore and legend so tenaciously cling. To Lengel, Washington was the imperfect commander. Washington possessed no great tactical ingenuity, and his acknowledged "brilliance in retreat" only demonstrates the role luck plays in the fortunes of all great men. He was not an enlisted man's leader; he made a point of never mingling with his troops. He was not an especially creative military thinker; he fought largely by the book. He was not a professional, but a citizen soldier, who, at a time when warfare demanded that armies maneuver efficiently in precise formation, had little practical training handling men in combat. Yet despite his flaws, Washington was a remarkable figure, a true man of the moment, a leader who possessed a clear strategic, national, and continental vision, and who inspired complete loyalty from his fellow revolutionaries, officers, and enlisted men. America could never have won freedom without him.A trained surveyor, Washington mastered topography and used his superior knowledge of battlegrounds to maximum effect. He appreciated the importance of good allies in times of crisis, and understood well the benefits of coordination of ground and naval forces. Like the American nation itself, he was a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts-a remarkable everyman whose acts determined the course of history. Lengel argues that Washington's excellence was in his completeness, in how he united the military, political, and personal skills necessary to lead a nation in war and peace. At once informative and engaging, and filled with some eye-opening revelations about Washington, the war for American independence, and the very nature of military command, General George Washington is a book that reintroduces readers to a figure many think they already know.From the Hardcover edition.Boxing for Cuba: An Immigrant's Story
By Guillermo Vicente Vidal. 2013
"An inspiring story."-Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the InteriorA poignant and inspirational memoir of one family's emigration from Cuba…
to the United States during the harsh political times associated with the Cuban Revolution, Boxing for Cuba is a lyrical testament to the tenacity of the human spirit. A must-read for all.Guillermo Vicente Vidal is a native of Cuba and grew up in Colorado. After graduating from college, he held various government positions, including mayor of Denver. Vidal is president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver, and he lives with his family in Denver, Colorado.Urantiaboken
By Urantia Foundation. 1955
Urantia-boken, som första gången utkom år 1955, uppges ha presenterats av himmelska varelser som en uppenbarelse till vår planet Urantia.Texterna…
i Urantia-boken instruerar oss om mänsklighetens begynnelse, historia och bestämmelse samt om vår relation till Gud vår Fader. Texterna presenterar en enastående och övertygande porträttering av Jesu liv och förkunnelse. De öppnar nya vyer om tid och evighet för den mänskliga själen och erbjuder nya detaljer om vårt uppåtgående äventyr i ett vänligt och med omssorg administrerat universum.Urantia-boken erbjuder en klar och koncis sammanfattning av vetenskap, filosofi och religion. De som läser och studerar Urantia-boken tror att den kan utgöra ett väsentligt bidrag till det religiösa och filosofiska tänkandet hos människor i hela världen.Urantia-boken är inte en "religion" som sådan. Den bygger på det religiösa arvet från forna och nyare tider och sporrar läsaren till en personlig, levande religiös tro.Läsare världen över har berättat oss att studiet av Urantia-boken har påverkat dem på ett avgörande sätt och ofta förändrat deras liv. Den har inspirerat dem att nå fram till nya nivåer av andlig tillväxt och ökat deras känsla för det mänskliga livets värde.Vi uppmuntrar dig att läsa den här boken och själv upptäcka dess förädlande budskap.Az Urantia konyv
By Urantia Foundation. 1955
Az Urantia Alapítvány által eloször 1955-ben kiadott Urantia könyv szerzoi állításuk szerint mennyei lények, akik a könyvben foglaltakat mint kinyilatkoztatást…
mutatták be a bolygónknak, vagyis az Urantiának.Az Urantia könyvben olvasható írások az emberiség megjelenésével, történelmével és sorsának beteljesülésével, valamint az Atya Istenhez fuzodo viszonyunkkal kapcsolatosan adnak tájékoztatást. Páratlan és lenyugözo képet tárnak elénk Jézus életérol és az o tanításairól. Az ido és az örökkévalóság új távlatait nyitják meg az emberi szellem elott, és eddig ismeretlen részletekkel szolgálnak a barátságos és gondosan igazgatott világegyetemben megélendo felemelkedoi pályánkról.Az Urantia könyv világos és tömör egységbe rendezi a tudományos, a bölcseleti és a vallási ismereteket. A könyvet olvasók és tanulmányozók szerint az Urantia könyv képes jelentos mértékben hozzájárulni az emberek vallási és bölcseleti gondolkodásának fejlodéséhez világszerte.Az Urantia könyv önmagától nem vallás". A könyv a múlt és a jelen vallási örökségére épít, s ezzel bátorítja a személyes, élo vallásos hit erosödését.A világ számos helyérol kaptunk olyan olvasói visszajelzéseket, hogy az Urantia könyv mélyen megérintette oket és gyakran számoltak be arról is, hogy megváltoztatta az életüket; a szellemben való gyarapodás új szintjeinek elérésére ösztönzött, és az emberi élet értékének teljesebb elismerését váltotta ki bennük.Látogatónkat is a könyv elolvasására bíztatjuk, remélve, hogy rálel benne a kinyilatkoztatók magasztos üzenetére.Księga Urantii
By Urantia Foundation. 2010
Ksiega Urantii, po raz pierwszy wydana przez Fundacje Urantii w roku 1955, twierdzi, ze zostala przedstawiona przez niebianskie istoty, jako…
objawienie dla naszej planety, Urantii.Tekst Ksiegi Urantii mówi nam o poczatkach, historii i przeznaczeniu ludzkosci i naszych zwiazkach z Bogiem Ojcem. Przedstawia jedyny w swoim rodzaju i frapujacy obraz zycia i nauk Jezusa. Przed ludzkim duchem otwiera nowe perspektywy czasu i wiecznosci i przynosi nowe szczególy naszej przygody, podczas wznoszenia sie w przyjaznym i starannie zarzadzanym wszechswiecie.Ksiega Urantii podaje jasna i zwiezla integracja nauki, filozofii i religii. Ci, którzy ja czytali i zglebiali, wierza, ze Ksiega Urantii moze wniesc bardzo wiele wartosci do religijnej i filozoficznej mysli ludzi tego swiata. Ksiega Urantii, jako taka, nie jest religia". Bazuje na religijnym dziedzictwie z przeszlosci i terazniejszosci, popierajac osobista, zywa wiare religijna.Czytelnicy z róznych stron swiata mówia nam, ze Ksiega Urantii wywarla na nich ogromne wrazenie i czestokroc odmienila ich zycie. Inspiruje ich do osiagania nowych poziomów rozwoju duchowego i rozwija ich zrozumienie wartosci zycia ludzkiego.Zachecamy was do jej przeczytania i odkrycia dla siebie jej uszlachetniajacego poslania.'Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics!': Adventures and Lessons from an Unexpected Public Life
By James Robert Baker. 2006
The real inside story of why Gerald Ford did not ask Ronald Reagan to be his running mate in 1976-and…
why Reagan did not pick Ford in 1980; the battle over Florida 2000; the aborted White House job switch that inadvertently opened the door to the Iran-Contra scandal; the Bush campaign's wish that Dan Quayle would offer to resign from the ticket in 1992; the White House turmoil in the dark days following the Reagan assassination attempt; and a great deal more . . . White House Chief of Staff (twice), Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and campaign chairman for three different candidates in five successive presidential campaigns-few people have lived and breathed politics as deeply as James Baker. Now, with candor and Texas-style storytelling, and not a few surprises, he takes us into his thirty-five years behind the scenes. None of it was planned. His grandfather, the "Captain," drilled this advice into him: "Work hard, study . . . and keep out of politics!" Then a personal tragedy changed the life of a forty-year-old Texas Democratic lawyer and he never looked back. From campaign horsetrading, which sometimes got rough ("Politics ain't beanbag," says Baker), to the inner councils of the Reagan and Bush administrations to the controversies of today, Baker offers frank talk and spellbinding narratives, along with personal appraisals of six presidents and a constellation of others. It was a long, unexpected journey from Houston, Texas, to Washington, D.C.-and you'll want to travel it with him.Potomac Fever
By William J. Middendorf. 2011
After a highly successful career in investment banking with his own firm and a seat on the New York Stock…
Exchange, J. William Middendorf became restive and looked for new challenges. Having "learned how to make money," he writes in this memoir, he "wanted to learn how to make a difference." Thus he became actively involved in politics, first at the local level in Connecticut and then with the presidential campaign of Senator Barry Goldwater in 1964 and as treasurer of the Republican National Committee. There followed a series of challenging public service appointments: ambassador to the Netherlands, Under Secretary and later Secretary of the Navy, ambassador to the Organization of American States, and ambassador to the European Community.Middendorf is a first-rate storyteller and has many tales to share--from his World War II Navy service, to his first job wearing a string of pearls in a bank vault, to a failed effort to bring a U.S.-style constitution to post-Soviet Russia. He recounts tales of villains and heroes, of narrow legislative victories on vital programs, of efforts to forestall war in the Falklands and to counter growing Communist control of the island of Grenada, as well as how the Navy won narrow but vital victories on such important programs as the Aegis missile system and the Trident submarine. Writing with the authority of someone who held a number of key government positions, his lively and revealing memoir is filled with many behind-the-scenes stories of critical events of the Cold War.Daley: A Retrospective
By Chicago Tribune Staff. 2012
From the second half of the twentieth century through today, no family has defined Chicago in the public's eye more…
than the Daleys. Between Richard J. Daley and his son, Richard M. Daley, a member of this prominent Bridgeport family served as the city's mayor for 43 out of a total 57 years from 1955-2011. When Richard M. Daley, also known as "Richie", made a surprise announcement in 2011 that he would not seek re-election, he had surpassed his father's record tenure of 21 years in office. Daley: A Retrospective explores the fascinating, storied career of Richard M. Daley: the longest-serving, and arguably, most important mayor in the city's own long, storied history.From Richie's childhood in his father's shadow to his infamous teenaged run-in with the law, this book begins with the earliest years in the life of Richard J. Daley's eldest son. It follows the rise of Daley's political career as a state senator and as the state's attorney through his 1989 election as mayor. The bulk of Daley: A Retrospective focuses on Daley's lengthy, imperial reign over Chicago politics, in which he developed his own unique and powerful personality. Transitioning from a perceived simulacrum of his father into one of the most dominant, idiosyncratic, and quotable individuals in American politics, Daley made his name by making bold moves, waging hard-fought battles, and forging commanding, if not celebrated, consensus between the multitudes of citywide officials and organizations.Comprised of 60 years of Chicago Tribune reporting, this story is unique to Chicago and told by none better than the reporters, editors, and notable commentators who covered Daley's entire career. Touching on race relations, education, gang violence, crime, environmentalism, gay marriage, local sports, and the murky world of Chicago politics, Daley: A Retrospective is a captivating read. It is the most up-to-date and comprehensive exploration of Mayor Richard M. Daley's legacy, and it will serve as a significant resource as Daley continues to be reexamined and reevaluated for years to come.American Dynasty
By Kevin Phillips. 2004
The Bushes are the family nobody really knows, says Kevin Phillips. This popular lack of acquaintance—nurtured by gauzy imagery of…
Maine summer cottages, gray-haired national grandmothers, July Fourth sparklers, and cowboy boots—has let national politics create a dynasticized presidency that would have horrified America's founding fathers. They, after all, had led a revolution against a succession of royal Georges. In this devastating book, onetime Republican strategist Phillips reveals how four generations of Bushes have ascended the ladder of national power since World War One, becoming entrenched within the American establishment—Yale, Wall Street, the Senate, the CIA, the vice presidency, and the presidency—through a recurrent flair for old-boy networking, national security involvement, and political deception. By uncovering relationships and connecting facts with new clarity, Phillips comes to a stunning conclusion: The Bush family has systematically used its financial and social empire—its "aristocracy"—to gain the White House, thereby subverting the very core of American democracy. In their ambition, the Bushes ultimately reinvented themselves with brilliant timing, twisting and turning from silver spoon Yankees to born-again evangelical Texans. As America—and the world—holds its breath for the 2004 presidential election, American Dynasty explains how it happened and what it all means. .Rush Limbaugh
By Zev Chafets. 2010
Do you remember your first time? People tend to remember the moment they first heard The Rush Limbaugh Show on…
the radio. For Zev Chafets, it was in a car in Detroit, driving down Woodward Avenue. Limbaugh's braggadocio, the outrageous satire, the slaughtering of liberal sacred cows performed with the verve of a rock-n-roll DJ-it seemed fresh, funny and completely subversive. "They're never going to let this guy stay on the air," he thought. Almost two decades later Chafets met Rush for the first time, at Limbaugh's rarely visited "Southern Command. " They spent hours together talking on the record about politics, sports, music, show business, religion and modern American history. Rush opened his home and his world, introducing Chafets to his family, closest friends, even his psychologist. The result was an acclaimed cover-story profile of Limbaugh in The New York Times Magazine. But there was much more to say, especially after Limbaugh became Public Enemy Number One of the Obama Administration. At first Limbaugh resisted the idea of a full-length portrait, but he eventually invited Chafets back to Florida and exchanged more than a hundred emails full of his personal history, thoughts, fears and ambitions. What has emerged is an uniquely personal look at the man who is not only the most popular voice on the radio, but the leader of the conservative movement and one of the most influential figures in the Republican Party. While Limbaugh's public persona is instantly recognizable, his background and private life are often misunderstood. Even devoted Dittoheads will find there's a lot they don't know about the self-described "harmless little fuzzball" who has, over the years, taken on the giants of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party-from Bill and Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama-with "half his brain tied behind his back, just to make it fair. " Chafets paints a compelling portrait of Limbaugh as a master entertainer, a public intellectual, a political force, and a fascinating man. .A Singular Woman
By Janny Scott. 2011
Watch a video A major publishing event: an unprecedented look into the life of the woman who most singularly shaped…
Barack Obama-his mother. Barack Obama has written extensively about his father, but little is known about Stanley Ann Dunham, the fiercely independent woman who raised him, the person he credits for, as he says, "what is best in me. " Here is the missing piece of the story. Award-winning reporter Janny Scott interviewed nearly two hundred of Dunham's friends, colleagues, and relatives (including both her children), and combed through boxes of personal and professional papers, letters to friends, and photo albums, to uncover the full breadth of this woman's inspiring and untraditional life, and to show the remarkable extent to which she shaped the man Obama is today. Dunham's story moves from Kansas and Washington state to Hawaii and Indonesia. It begins in a time when interracial marriage was still a felony in much of the United States, and culminates in the present, with her son as our president- something she never got to see. It is a poignant look at how character is passed from parent to child, and offers insight into how Obama's destiny was created early, by his mother's extraordinary faith in his gifts, and by her unconventional mothering. Finally, it is a heartbreaking story of a woman who died at age fifty-two, before her son would go on to his greatest accomplishments and reflections of what she taught him. .She's the Boss: The Disturbing Truth About Nancy Pelosi
By Rochelle Schweizer. 2010
Why Is Nancy Pelosi the Most Dangerous Woman in America? Most people see Pelosi exactly the way she wants them…
to: a cultured San Franciscan politician from an esteemed family. But underneath the Chanel suit and Mikimoto pearls is a true political boss-as in T weed. Don't be fooled by her image as a caring, grandmotherly public servant. Nancy Pelosi is all business. She's the Boss charts Pelosi's carefully orchestrated rise to power as a uniquely American ruling-class diva who is not so subtly replacing "by the people, for the people" with "have your people call my people. " From her father- a congressman and then mayor of Baltimore whose political machine was tainted by scandal-Pelosi learned about patronage, ruthlessness, and the credo of the party boss: never admit to anything, never apologize, and attack when challenged. As Speaker of the House, Pelosi once pounded her gavel so hard it left a dent in the lectern. She frightens even those who agree with her on almost everything. She punishes those who stand in her way. And her hypocrisy knows no bounds: ? While Pelosi spends millions in taxpayers' dollars to green up the capital and expects Americans to pay for their carbon footprints, she demands a bigger jet for her trips across the globe as well as military G5s for holiday weekends. ? She claims to act for the benefit of the American people, yet enriches her family's portfolio through pet legislation and personal financial dealings. ? She tried to enact taxpayer funding for abortions, defying the teachings of the Catholic Church, of which she is a member. ? With promises of utopia, she drives massive legislation deals through Congress by stiff arm twisting, knowing she and her allies will profit at the expense of the electorate. It will be clear after reading She's the Boss that the party works for Pelosi. .Hitchhiking with Larry David
By Paul Samuel Dolman. 2013
A memoir about a broken-hearted, middle-aged man who stumbles upon solace, meaning, and Larry David while hitchhiking his way around…
Martha's Vineyard One summer day on Martha's Vineyard Paul Samuel Dolman was hitchhiking, and none other than Larry David pulled over and asked, "You're not a serial killer or something, are you?" The comedic writer and actor from Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm not only gave Dolman a ride, but helped him find his way during his summer of soul-searching and hitchhiking. Dolman found himself on Martha's Vineyard that summer having made the catastrophic mistake of visiting "The Parental Asylum" in the wake of a painful breakup. His mother is welcoming, albeit senile and neurotically rigid. But his dad "only has the social energy to be nice to humans for about 10 minutes a day." Desperately seeking companionship, Dolman begins hitchhiking around the island and meets a wide array of characters: the super-rich and the homeless, movie stars and common folk, and, of course, Mr. David. Astonishingly, it is Dolman's growing friendship with the famous comedian that becomes the lodestar of his spiritual quest. (Yes, Larry David gets deep!) Written with disarming honest humor and perfectly capturing Larry David's unique comic genius, Hitchhiking with Larry David will leave readers simultaneously laughing and crying as they ponder the mystery and spirituality of life.Toussaint Louverture: A Biography
By Madison Smartt Bell. 2007
In 1791, Saint Domingue was both the richest and cruelest colony in the Western Hemisphere; more than a third of…
African slaves died within a few years of their arrival there. Thirteen years later, Haitian rebels declared independence from France after the first--and only--successful slave revolution in history. Much of the success of this uprising can be credited to one man, Toussaint Louverture--a figure about whom surprisingly little is known. In this fascinating biography, the first about Toussaint to appear in English in more than fifty years, Madison Smartt Bell combines a novelist's passion for his subject with a deep knowledge of the historical milieu that produced the man. Toussaint has been known either as a martyr of the revolution or as the instigator of one of history’s most savagely violent events. Bell shatters this binary perception, producing a clear-eyed picture of a complicated figure. Toussaint, born a slave, became a slaveholder himself, with associates among the white planter class. Bell demonstrates how his privileged position served as both an asset and a liability, enabling him to gain the love of blacks and mulattoes as "Papa Toussaint" but also sowing mistrust in their minds. Another of Bell's brilliant achievements is demonstrating how Toussaint’s often surprising actions, such as his support for the king of France even as the French Revolution promised an end to slavery and his betrayal of a planned slave revolt in Jamaica, can be explained by his desire to achieve liberation for the blacks of Saint Domingue. This masterly biography is a revelation of one of the most fascinating and important figures in New World history.