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Heydrich: Butcher of Prague (Images of War)
By Ian Baxter. 2022
Reinhard Heydrich along with Heinrich Himmler, whose deputy he was, will always be regarded as one of the most ruthless…
of the Nazi elite. Even Hitler described him as ‘a man with an iron heart’. He established his fearsome reputation in the 1930s, as head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence organization which neutralized opposition to the Nazi Party by murder and deportation. He organized Kristalnacht and played a leading role in the Holocaust, chairing the 1942 Wannsee Conference which formalized plans for the ‘Final Solution’. In addition, as head of the Einsatzgruppen murder squads in Eastern Europe he was responsible for countless murders. Appointed Deputy Reich-Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, he died of wounds inflicted by British trained SOE operatives in Prague in May 1942. The reprisals that followed his assassination were extreme by even the terrible standards of Nazi ruthlessness. Heydrich’s shocking and leading role in the Nazi regime is graphically portrayed in this Images of War book.The Call of the Heart: John M. Stahl and Hollywood Melodrama
By Bruce Babington and Charles Barr. 2018
A study of an important but neglected director that “fills many gaps and updates our knowledge of a major filmmaker…
of the silent period and beyond” (Positif).The profusion of research on film history means that there are now few Hollywood filmmakers in the category of Neglected Master, but John M. Stahl has been stuck in it for far too long. His strong association with melodrama and the “woman’s film” is a key to this neglect; those mainstays of popular cinema are no longer the object of critical scorn or indifference, but Stahl has until now hardly benefited from this welcome change in attitude.His remarkable silent melodramas were either lost or buried in archives, while his major sound films such as Imitation of Life and Magnificent Obsession, equally successful in their time, have been overshadowed by the glamour of the 1950s remakes by Douglas Sirk. Sirk is a far from neglected figure; Stahl’s much longer Hollywood career deserves attention and celebration in its own right, as this book definitively shows.Drawing on a wide range of film and document archives, scholars from three continents come together to cover Stahl’s work, as director and also producer, from its beginnings during World War I to his death, as a still active filmmaker, in 1950. Between them they make a strong case for Stahl as an important figure in cinema history, and as author of many films that still have the power to move their audiences.Vietnam: The Necessary War
By Michael Lind. 1999
Michael Lind casts new light on one of the most contentious episodes in American history in this controversial bestseller.In this…
groundgreaking reinterpretation of America's most disatrous and controversial war, Michael Lind demolishes enduring myths and put the Vietnam War in its proper context—as part of the global conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. Lind reveals the deep cultural divisions within the United States that made the Cold War consensus so fragile and explains how and why American public support for the war in Indochina declined. Even more stunning is his provacative argument that the United States failed in Vietnam because the military establishment did not adapt to the demands of what before 1968 had been largely a guerrilla war.In an era when the United States so often finds itself embroiled in prolonged and difficult conflicts, Lind offers a sobering cautionary tale to Ameicans of all political viewpoints.Do Chocolate Lovers Have Sweeter Babies?: The Surprising Science of Pregnancy
By Jena Pincott. 2013
Brain Candy for expectant parents! Pregnancy is an adventure. Lots of books tell you the basics—“the baby is the size…
of [insert fruit here].” But pregnant science writer Jena Pincott began to wonder just how a baby might tinker with her body—and vice versa—and chased down answers to the questions she wouldn’t ask her doctor, such as: • Does stress sharpen your baby’s mind—or dull it? • Can you predict your baby’s temperament? • Why are babies born in the darker months of the year more likely to grow up to be novelty-loving risk takers? • Are bossy, dominant women more likely to have boys? • How can the cells left behind by your baby affect you years later? This is a different kind of pregnancy book—thoughtful, fun, and filled with information you won’t find anywhere else.The Tender Soldier: A True Story of War and Sacrifice
By Vanessa M. Gezari. 2013
A “sharp-eyed look at the complexities of war” (Parade), that explores the inner workings of the Human Terrain System, a…
Pentagon program that sends civilian social scientists into war zones to help soldiers understand local culture.On the day Barack Obama was elected president in November 2008, a small group of American civilians took their optimism and experience to a village west of Kandahar, Afghanistan. They were part of the Pentagon’s controversial attempt to bring social science to the battlefield, driven by the notion that you can’t win a war if you don’t understand the enemy and his culture. The field team in Afghanistan that day included an intrepid Texas blonde, a former bodyguard for Afghan president Hamid Karzai, and an ex-military intelligence sergeant who had come to Afghanistan to make peace with his troubled past. But not all goes as planned. In this tale of moral suspense, journalist Vanessa Gezari follows these three idealists from the hope that brought them to Afghanistan through the events of the fateful day when one is gravely wounded, an Afghan is dead, and a proponent of cross-cultural engagement is charged with his murder. Through it all, these brave Americans ended up showing the world just how determined they were to get things right, how hard it was to really understand a place like Afghanistan where storytelling has been a major tool of survival, and why all future wars will involve this strange mix of fighting and listening.Vanessa Gezari is the only journalist to have gained access to the lives of people inside this troubled Army program, including the brilliant, ambitious figures who conceived it. This true story of war and sacrifice will upend your ideas about what really went wrong in Afghanistan.&“Compellingly chronicles one of the least studied great episodes of World War II with power and authority…A riveting read&” (Donald…
L. Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Masters of the Air) about World War II&’s largest airborne operation—one that dropped 17,000 Allied paratroopers deep into the heart of Nazi Germany.On the morning of March 24, 1945, more than two thousand Allied aircraft droned through a cloudless sky toward Germany. Escorted by swarms of darting fighters, the armada of transport planes carried 17,000 troops to be dropped, via parachute and glider, on the far banks of the Rhine River. Four hours later, after what was the war&’s largest airdrop, all major objectives had been seized. The invasion smashed Germany&’s last line of defense and gutted Hitler&’s war machine; the war in Europe ended less than two months later.Four Hours of Fury follows the 17th Airborne Division as they prepare for Operation Varsity, a campaign that would rival Normandy in scale and become one of the most successful and important of the war. Even as the Third Reich began to implode, it was vital for Allied troops to have direct access into Germany to guarantee victory—the 17th Airborne secured that bridgehead over the River Rhine. And yet their story has until now been relegated to history&’s footnotes.In this viscerally exciting account, paratrooper-turned-historian James Fenelon &“details every aspect of the American 17th Airborne Division&’s role in Operation Varsity...inspired&” (The Wall Street Journal). Reminiscent of A Bridge Too Far and Masters of the Air, Four Hours of Fury does for the 17th Airborne what Band of Brothers did for the 101st. It is a captivating, action-packed tale of heroism and triumph spotlighting one of World War II&’s most under-chronicled and dangerous operations.The Bomb in the Basement: How Israel Went Nuclear and What That Means for the World
By Michael Karpin. 2007
THE BOMB IN THE BASEMENT tells the fascinating story of how Israel became the Middle East's only nuclear power and…
-- unlike Iraq and Iran -- succeeded in keeping its atomic program secret. Veteran Israeli journalist Michael Karpin explains how Israel, by far the smallest of the nuclear powers, succeeded in its ambitious effort. David Ben-Gurion saw the need for an atomic capability to offset the numerical superiority of Arab armies at war with Israel. The Israeli program relied heavily on French assistance in its early years, until President Charles de Gaulle reduced his country's cooperation. Once it was discovered, Israel's nuclear program cast a shadow over relations between Israel and the United States. The Kennedy administration opposed it, and President Lyndon Johnson approved it only tacitly. Significant change took place when President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger adopted a new strategy. An Israel that possessed nuclear capability was a more valuable asset to the West than an Israel without such an option. President Nixon ceased to press Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and dropped U.S. surveillance of the Israeli reactor at Dimona. In exchange, Israel committed itself to maintain official ambiguity about its nuclear program. That policy remains in place nearly forty years later. Without American approval and the financial assistance and lobbying of Jews in North America, Israel could not have achieved its nuclear capability. This is a fascinating story of scientists, politicians, spies, and major international personalities who all played a part in an extraordinary undertaking that continues to shape the politics of the world's most volatile region. Today it remains to be seen whether Israel will permit Iran to build a nuclear bomb and threaten Israel's security.Boundaries
By Maya Lin. 1996
Renowned artist and architect Maya Lin's visual and verbal sketchbook—a unique view into her artwork and philosophy.Walking through this parklike…
area, the memorial appears as a rift in the earth -- a long, polished black stone wall, emerging from and receding into the earth. Approaching the memorial, the ground slopes gently downward, and the low walls emerging on either side, growing out of the earth, extend and converge at a point below and ahead. Walking into the grassy site contained by the walls of this memorial, we can barely make out the carved names upon the memorial's walls. These names, seemingly infinite in number, convey the sense of overwhelming numbers, while unifying these individuals into a whole.... So begins the competition entry submitted in 1981 by a Yale undergraduate for the design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. -- subsequently called "as moving and awesome and popular a piece of memorial architecture as exists anywhere in the world." Its creator, Maya Lin, has been nothing less than world famous ever since. From the explicitly political to the un-ashamedly literary to the completely abstract, her simple and powerful sculpture -- the Rockefeller Foundation sculpture, the Southern Poverty Law Center Civil Rights Memorial, the Yale Women's Table, Wave Field -- her architecture, including The Museum for African Art and the Norton residence, and her protean design talents have defined her as one of the most gifted creative geniuses of the age.Boundaries is her first book: an eloquent visual/verbal sketchbook produced with the same inspiration and attention to detail as any of her other artworks. Like her environmental sculptures, it is a site, but one which exists at a remove so that it may comment on the personal and artistic elements that make up those works. In it, sketches, photographs, workbook entries, and original designs are held together by a deeply personal text. Boundaries is a powerful literary and visual statement by "a leading public artist" (Holland Carter). It is itself a unique work of art.General Lee's Army: From Victory to Collapse
By Joseph Glatthaar. 2009
"You would be surprised to see what men we have in the ranks," Virginia cavalryman Thomas Rowland informed his mother…
in May 1861, just after joining the Army of Northern Virginia. His army -- General Robert E. Lee's army -- was a surprise to almost everyone: With daring early victories and an invasion into the North, they nearly managed to convince the North to give up the fight. Even in 1865, facing certain defeat after the loss of 30,000 men, a Louisiana private fighting in Lee's army still had hope. "I must not despair," he scribbled in his diary. "Lee will bring order out of chaos, and with the help of our Heavenly Father, all will be well." Astonishingly, after 150 years of scholarship, there are still some major surprises about the Army of Northern Virginia. In General Lee's Army, renowned historian Joseph T. Glatthaar draws on an impressive range of sources assembled over two decades -- from letters and diaries, to official war records, to a new, definitive database of statistics -- to rewrite the history of the Civil War's most important army and, indeed, of the war itself. Glatthaar takes readers from the home front to the heart of the most famous battles of the war: Manassas, the Peninsula campaign, Antietam, Gettysburg, all the way to the final surrender at Appomattox. General Lee's Army penetrates headquarters tents and winter shanties, eliciting the officers' plans, wishes, and prayers; it portrays a world of life, death, healing, and hardship; it investigates the South's commitment to the war and its gradual erosion; and it depicts and analyzes Lee's men in triumph and defeat. The history of Lee's army is a powerful lens on the entire war. The fate of Lee's army explains why the South almost won -- and why it lost. The story of his men -- their reasons for fighting, their cohesion, mounting casualties, diseases, supply problems, and discipline problems -- tells it all. Glatthaar's definitive account settles many historical arguments. The Rebels were fighting above all to defend slavery. More than half of Lee's men were killed, wounded, or captured -- a staggering statistic. Their leader, Robert E. Lee, though far from perfect, held an exalted place in his men's eyes despite a number of mistakes and despite a range of problems among some of his key lieutenants. General Lee's Army is a masterpiece of scholarship and vivid storytelling, narrated as much as possible in the words of the enlisted men and their officers.Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America
By David Kamp. 2020
One of the &“Best Books&” of the year from The Smithsonian, The Washington Independent Review, and more!From bestselling writer David…
Kamp, the &“fun, fascinating, and surprisingly touching,&” (People) behind-the-scenes story of the cultural heroes who created the beloved children&’s TV programs Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Mister Rogers&’ Neighborhood, Free to Be…Youand Me, and Schoolhouse Rock!—which transformed American childhood for the better, teaching kids about diversity, the ABCs, and feminism through a fun, funky 1970s lens.With a foreword by Questlove.In 1970, on a soundstage on Manhattan&’s Upper West Side, a group of men, women, and Muppets of various ages and colors worked doggedly to finish the first season of a children&’s TV program that was not yet assured a second season: Sesame Street. They were conducting an experiment to see if television could be used to better prepare disadvantaged preschoolers for kindergarten. What they didn&’t know then was that they were starting a cultural revolution that would affect all American kids.In Sunny Days, bestselling author David Kamp captures the unique political and social moment that gave us not only Sesame Street, but also Fred Rogers&’s gentle yet brave Mister Rogers&’ Neighborhood; Marlo Thomas&’s unabashed gender politics primer Free to Be…You and Me; Schoolhouse Rock!, an infectious series of educational shorts dreamed up by Madison Ave admen; and more, including The Electric Company and ZOOM. It was a unique time when an uncommon number of media professionals and thought leaders leveraged their influence to help children learn—and, just as notably, a time of unprecedented buy-in from American parents.&“Sunny Days is full of such nostalgic jolts…it makes the era a pleasure to revisit&” (The Wall Street Journal) and captures a wondrous period in the US when a determined few proved that, with persistence and effort, they could change the lives of millions. It is &“a lively and bewitching recounting of a particularly ripe period in television and cultural history&” (The New York Times Book Review) and, as the Los Angeles Times notes, &“a sublime book about a variety of creative people coming together not in the pursuit of fame or money, but to enrich the lives of children.&”Creative Concert Production and Entrepreneurship: Concert Dramaturgy and Project Development for the Performing Arts offers a conceptual and applied introduction…
to the musical and dramaturgical challenges involved in developing and producing concerts. Drawing from over three decades of real-world experience and a range of international case studies, the author explores new models for cooperation between artists, cultural institutions, governments, and businesses, arguing for the importance of rooting the concert production process in artistic and ethical values. The book presents essential knowledge and techniques to meet the demand for music and stage performances across genres, arenas, formats, and distribution channels. Relevant to a wide range of students and professionals in music and the performing arts, Creative Concert Production and Entrepreneurship marries theory with practice, providing a framework for readers to develop the creative entrepreneurial practices essential for success in today’s music industry.Reading Digital Fiction: Narrative, Cognition, Mediality (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)
By Alice Bell, Astrid Ensslin. 2024
Reading Digital Fiction offers the first comprehensive and systematic theoretical, methodological, and analytical examination of digital fiction from a cognitive…
and empirical perspective. Proposing the new concept of “medial reading”, it argues for the centrality of an audience’s interest in, awareness of and/or attention to the medium in which a text is produced and received, and which we argue should be applied to reader data across media. The book analyses and theorises five generations of digital fiction and their reading including hypertext fiction, hypermedia fiction, narrative video games, app fiction, and virtual reality. It showcases medium- and platform-specific methods of qualitative reader response research across a variety of contexts and settings from screen-based and embodied interaction to gallery installation, and from reading group and individual interview to think-aloud methodologies. The book thus addresses the unique affordances of digital fiction reading by designing and reporting on new empirical studies focusing on hypertextuality, interactivity, immersion, as well as medium-specific forms of textual “you”, ontological ambiguity, reader orientation and empathy. In so doing, the book refines, critiques, and expands cognitive, transmedial, and empirical narratology and stylistics by placing the reader of these new narratives front and centre.A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA
By Joshua Kurlantzick. 2017
The untold story of how America&’s secret war in Laos in the 1960s transformed the CIA from a loose collection…
of spies into a military operation and a key player in American foreign policy.January, 1961: Laos, a tiny nation few Americans have heard of, is at risk of falling to communism and triggering a domino effect throughout Southeast Asia. This is what President Eisenhower believed when he approved the CIA&’s Operation Momentum, creating an army of ethnic Hmong to fight communist forces there. Largely hidden from the American public—and most of Congress—Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States. The brutal war lasted more than a decade, left the ground littered with thousands of unexploded bombs, and changed the nature of the CIA forever.With &“revelatory reporting&” and &“lucid prose&” (The Economist), Kurlantzick provides the definitive account of the Laos war, focusing on the four key people who led the operation: the CIA operative whose idea it was, the Hmong general who led the proxy army in the field, the paramilitary specialist who trained the Hmong forces, and the State Department careerist who took control over the war as it grew.Using recently declassified records and extensive interviews, Kurlantzick shows for the first time how the CIA&’s clandestine adventures in one small, Southeast Asian country became the template for how the United States has conducted war ever since—all the way to today&’s war on terrorism.Sustainable Housing in a Circular Economy
By Naomi Keena, Avi Friedman. 2024
This book relates circular economy principles to housing design and construction and highlights how those principles can result in both…
monetary savings, positive environmental impact, and socio-ecological change.Chapters focus on three key circular economy principles and apply them to architectural construction and design, namely rethinking of the end-of-use phase of a building and the potential of design-for-disassembly; the role of digitization and data standardization in fostering evidence-based circular economy design decision-making; and presenting space as a resource to conserve, via exploration of the sharing economy and flexibility principles. Beyond waste management and material cycles, this book provides a holistic understanding of the opportunities across the building life cycle that can allow for sustainable and affordable circular housing. With case studies from 13 different countries, including but not limited to the Hammarby Sjöstad district in Sweden, the Circle House in Denmark, Benny Farm in Canada, VMD Prefabricated House in Mexico, and the Deep Performance Dwelling in China, authors pair theoretical frameworks with real-world examples.This will be a useful resource for upper-level students and academics of architecture, construction, and planning, especially those studying and researching housing design, building technology, green project management, and environmental design.Film as a Medium of Seduction: Introduction to the Seduction-Theory of Film
By Marcus Stiglegger. 2024
The seduction-theory defines film in a broader sense as a medium of seduction, based on the French concept of séduction.…
It is a theoretical approach influenced by continental philosophy and classical film theory, linked to a three-stage analytical model. The book introduces the theoretical foundations and, using various classical and contemporary examples from film history, presents a genuine method of film analysis.For over 50 years, the magazine has been the place where the world's leading authors, scientists, educators, artists, and political…
leaders turn when they wish to engage in a spirited debate on literature, politics, art, and ideas with a small but influential audience that welcomes the challenge. Each issue addresses some of the most passionate political and cultural controversies of the day, and reviews the most engrossing new books and the ideas that illuminate them.“This ambitious undertaking is concerned with the melodramatic form in theatre and film and its impact on French political culture.”…
—H-France ReviewIn France, both political culture and theatrical performances have drawn upon melodrama. This “melodramatic thread” helped weave the country’s political life as it moved from monarchy to democracy. By examining the relationship between public ceremonies and theatrical performance, James R. Lehning sheds light on democratization in modern France. He explores the extent to which the dramatic forms were present in the public performance of political power. By concentrating on the Republic and the Revolution and on theatrical performance, Lehning affirms the importance of examining the performative aspects of French political culture for understanding the political differences that have marked France in the years since 1789.“In this thoroughly researched and persuasive book, Lehning provides a fascinating reading of public performances in modern France . . . This is an important contribution to the study of French culture and the democratization process . . . Essential.” —Choice“Lehning’s application of the themes of melodrama to French political culture offers new insights into French history. His style is lively, clear, and highly readable.” —Venita Datta, Wellesley College“The analyses in this book make a real contribution to debates about the ways in which art, particularly popular art, and politics interact; how politics itself is theatrical in the French case; and the role of ritual in politics and the function of politics as ritual and ceremony.” —John Gaffney, Aston UniversityThe Sweet Breath of Life: A Poetic Narrative of the African-American Family
By Ntozake Shange. 2004
Words and images come together in a collaboration between celebrated poet Ntozake Shange and an acclaimed group of photographers, to…
result in this stunning celebration of contemporary Black life in America.From the first publication of The Sweet Flypaper of Life by Langston Hughes and Roy DeCarava in 1967, to Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats, collaborations between writers and photographers have been important in African American culture. These books examine the issues of identity and representation that have been so central to this group's efforts to thrive.The Kamoinge Workshop photographers who contributed their work to this inspiring collection consist of names that have appeared in The New York Times, National Geographic, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), and more. Names such as Anthony Barboza, Adger W. Cowans, Ming Smith Murray, Beuford Smith, John Pinderhuges, and many others. The Workshop&’s mission was a response from the bias portrayals of African Americans in the media. They sought to shed positive light on their subjects, as well as to demystify Black life in America. And The Sweet Breath of Life does exactly that.Overlord: General Pete Quesada and the Triumph of Tactical Air Power in World War II
By Thomas Alexander Hughes. 1995
Over Lord is the fascinating story of how American tactical air power was developed by General Elwood "Pete" Quesada during…
World War II, including its decisive role in Operation OVERLORD and the liberation of Europe.Pete Quesada is one of World War II's unsung yet crucial heroes. With his famous "Ninth Tactical Air Command," Quesada established the best air-ground team in the European theater. he pioneered the use of radar in close air support operations, introducing weapons systems specifically geared to tactical operations. He nurtured new flying methods designed for the kind of precision bombing the battlefields of Europe demanded. And more than anything else, Pete Quesada championed efforts to model air and ground officers into a single fighting unit. His relationships with ground leaders like Generals Omar Bradley and "Lightning Joe" Collins were a model for the kind of interservice harmony that was essential for dislodging the entrenched German Army.At war's end everybody from General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower to ordinary infantrymen recognized Pete Quesada as the premier expert and dogged patron of close air support. Allied airplanes over the battlefields of Europe had undoubtedly shortened the war and saved many thousands of lives, and Pete Quesada came home to a hero's welcome in 1945. By then he was the personification of tactical air power. Indeed, he was its over lord.Unfortunately, Quesada's groundbreaking methods were all but forgotten after the war. As the Cold War deepened, Air Force leaders stressed the role of big bombers flying deep into enemy territory and renounced the importance of close air support missions. Quesada himself was shunted into jobs that were both illsuited to his fiery temperament and divorced from his wartime expertise in tactical aviation. Frustrated, he retired from the Air Force in 1951 at forty-seven years of age.Fortunately, the story of Quesada's innovative tactics did not end there for the American military. In Korea in the 1950s and Vietnam in the 1960s, U.S. servicemen struggled -- and died -- relearning and recreating the kinds of tactics that Quesada had made commonplace in 1944-45. Had the U.S. Air Force nurtured its capacity for close air support, those two conflicts may have unfolded differently. Since then, the Air Force has struggled for a better balance between its bombardment missions and its support functions.This is the definitive story of an extraordinary man, whose remarkable efforts to aid foot soldiers in World War II contributed significantly to the Allies' success. America's belated rediscovery of Quesada's precepts some forty years later in conflicts like Operation DESERT STORM only underscores the importance of Quesada's story.Damages
By Barry Werth. 1998
Damages is the riveting true story of one family’s legal struggles in the world of medicine. At the urging of…
a friend, the Sabias filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Humes and Norwalk Hospital. Barry Werth takes us through the seven-year lawsuit, allowing us to see the legal strategy plotted by the Sabias’s attorneys, Connecticut’s premier medical malpractice law firm.