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The Political Principles of Robert A. Taft
by Russell KirkRobert A. Taft has been neglected by some historians and political theorists and vilified by others. Vigorously and impartially written, this book analyzes the ideas and influence of a great U.S. senator of the twentieth century. Here readers will find a close and lively examination of Taft's convictions on freedom, justice, labor policy, social reform, foreign affairs, and the responsibilities of political parties.Respected for his intelligence and integrity, Robert Taft was considered the most remarkable public man of a turbulent political era. He was strong and candid, yet was repeatedly denied executive power. Despite this, he will undoubtedly be long remembered.Drawing on many contemporary sources, including the Taft Papers in the Library of Congress, Kirk and Mc- Clellan set Taft in historical perspective. Taft's enduring significance to a normative theory of politics is made clear in this careful study, which includes extensive quotations from his outstanding speeches and writings. Available in paperback for the first time, this edition includes a new introduction by Jeffrey Nelson, who has been closely associated with Russell Kirk.
The Politician: An Insider's Account of John Edwards's Pursuit of the Presidency and the Scandal That Brought Him Down
by Andrew Young"The Politician" offers a look at the trajectory which made John Edwards the ideal Democratic candidate for president, and the hubris which brought him down, leaving his career, his marriage, and his dreams in ashes.
Politics of Command
by John Nelson RickardIn December 1943, Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton resigned from command of the 1st Canadian Army amidst criticism of his poor generalship and of his abrasive personality. Despite McNaughton's importance to the Canadian Army during the first four years of the Second World War, little has been written about the man himself or the circumstances of his resignation.In The Politics of Command, the first full-length study of the subject since 1969, John Nelson Rickard analyzes McNaughton's performance during exercise SPARTAN in March 1943 and assesses his relationships with key figures such as Sir Alan F. Brooke, Bernard Paget, and Harry Crerar. This detailed re-examination of McNaughton's command argues that the long-accepted reasons for his relief of duty require extensive modification.Based on a wide range of sources, The Politics of Command will redefine how military historians and all Canadians look not only at "Andy" McNaughton, but the Canadian Army as well.
The Politics of Survival
by Marc AbélésIn this provocative analysis of global politics, the anthropologist Marc Abls argues that the meaning and aims of political action have radically changed in the era of globalization. As dangers such as terrorism and global warming have moved to the fore of global consciousness, foreboding has replaced the belief that tomorrow will be better than today. Survival, outlasting the uncertainties and threats of a precarious future, has supplanted harmonious coexistence as the primary goal of politics. Abls contends that this political reorientation has changed our priorities and modes of political action, and generated new debates and initiatives. The proliferation of supranational and transnational organizations--from the European Union to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to Oxfam--is the visible effect of this radical transformation in our relationship to the political realm. Areas of governance as diverse as the economy, the environment, and human rights have been partially taken over by such agencies. Non-governmental organizations in particular have become linked with the mindset of risk and uncertainty; they both reflect and help produce the politics of survival. Abls examines the new global politics, which assumes many forms and is enacted by diverse figures with varied sympathies: the officials at meetings of the WTO and the demonstrators outside them, celebrity activists, and online contributors to international charities. He makes an impassioned case that our accounts of globalization need to reckon with the preoccupations and affiliations now driving global politics. The Politics of Survival was first published in France in 2006. This English-language edition has been revised and includes a new preface.
Pope Francis
by Sergio Rubin Francesca AmbrogettiThe only authorised biography of Pope Francis I. Just who is Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, and the first to take the name Francis? Elected in one of the shortest conclaves in history, the former Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina reveals, in a series of extensive interviews conducted over the course of two years, the very image of a humble priest, inspired teacher, and wise and adroit cardinal. Speaking spontaneously and intimately, Archbishop Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, covers topics as wide-ranging as his childhood, family life, and first job to discovering his calling and his early days in the seminary. The former archbishop was a teacher of psychology and literature until John Paul II consecrated him as a cardinal. He befriended writers like Jorge Luis Borges and cites Homer, Cervantes, and German and Italian poets with ease and offers genuinely interesting and nuanced thoughts about teaching. A learned and introspective man, he doesn't avoid the uncomfortable subjects: topics covered include the declining numbers of priests and nuns; celibacy; the sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the church; and his opinions about and experience with the military dictatorship of his own crisis riddled country. It also discusses the incredible role he played in the last conclave. In each stage of his life, we witness a man more interested in substance than style, one whose actions and words reflect his deeply-rooted humility. The book concludes with the Pope's own writings and reflections, full of wisdom and inspiration.
The Portable Patriot: Documents, Speeches, and Sermons that Compose the American Soul
by Joel J. Miller & Kristen ParrishWhat does it mean to think, believe, and act like an American? Get the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other important United States historical documents all in one book!The soul of America is far more than a concept—it is a people. Even the most sacred principles mean very little unless lived out passionately by an informed citizenry. In The Portable Patriot you&’ll find a carefully assembled sampling of American history&’s most formative words, written by the people who made that extraordinary history—George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, and many more of America's Founding Fathers. Speeches and sermons, essays and extracts, poems and proclamations illumine such values as independence, virtue, humility, bravery, thrift, prayer, enterprise, liberty, and reliance on God. While peering back to the cradle of America&’s national identity, The Portable Patriot also points a way forward, compelling us to heed poet John Dickinson&’s plea to &“rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty&’s call.&”&“Nothing ignites a patriot&’s heart—or the hope that the truths of our founding era will prevail again—like the documents assembled in The Portable Patriot. How grateful we should be, and how quick to make these historic words our own.&” ?Stephen Mansfield, author, The Forgotten Founding Father and The Faith of the American Soldier&“Our current struggles over taxation, federal debt, and limited government are part of a larger American story. Kudos to Miller and Parrish for highlighting these essential passages.&” ?Hon. Andrew P. Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst, Fox News Channel
The Portal
by Patrice ChaplinThe true-life memoir Patrice Chaplin began in City of Secrets continues here in the story of her spiritual initiation into the Kabbalistic tradition preserved since the Middle Ages by a secret society in the pre-Roman city of Girona, Spain. Salvador Dalí was a member of that society, as was the renowned author Umberto Eco, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau, and Jancint Verdeguer, one of the most celebrated Catalan poets. Importantly, so was the mysterious Berenger Sauniere, the priest who in the late 1800s built Rennes-le-Château in southern France, with the Tour Magdala, a tower that is twin to the neo-gothic tower in Girona. In this gripping story that reads like the adventures of a female Castenada, Chaplin is led through a series of initiatory stages which correspond to the magical square of Venus, containing the constellation of the Great Bear.
Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man: A Memoir
by Bill CleggBill Clegg had a thriving business as a literary agent, a supportive partner, trusting colleagues, and loving friends when he walked away from his world and embarked on a two-month crack binge. He had been released from rehab nine months earlier, and his relapse would cost him his home, his money, his career, and very nearly his life. What is it that leads an exceptional young mind want to disappear? Clegg makes stunningly clear the attraction of the drug that had him in its thrall, capturing in scene after scene the drama, tension, and paranoiac nightmare of a secret life--and the exhilarating bliss that came again and again until it was eclipsed almost entirely by doom. He also explores the shape of addiction, how its pattern--not its cause--can be traced to the past. Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man is an utterly compelling narrative--lyrical, irresistible, harsh, honest, and beautifully written--from which you simply cannot look away.
Portrait of Camelot: A Thousand Days in the Kennedy White House
by Richard Reeves Harvey SawlerA revealing and intimate portrait of a president, husband, and father as seen through the lens of the first official White House photographer. Cecil Stoughton’s close rapport with President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gave him extraordinary access to the Oval Office, the Kennedys’ private quarters and homes, state dinners, cabinet meetings, diplomatic trips, and family holidays. Drawing on Stoughton’s unparalleled body of photographs, most rarely or never before reproduced, and supported by a deeply thoughtful narrative by political historian Richard Reeves, Portrait of Camelot is an unprecedented portrayal of the power, politics, and warmly personal aspects of Camelot’s 1,036 days.“Reveals an intimate account of a very public figure…the rare archive of images features the president during state dinners and cabinet meetings at the White House to family holidays and vacations at their private homes.” —Vanity Fair
Portraits from the French Renaissance and the Wars of Religion (Early Modern Studies #3)
by André ThevetAvailable for the first time in English, these thirteen selections from André Thevet’s Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres offer a glimpse of France during a time of great upheaval. Originally published in 1584, Thevet’s collection contains over two hundred biographical sketches, detailing the lives of important persons from antiquity to the sixteenth century. Edward Benson and Roger Schlesinger have translated and annotated Thevet’s portraits of his contemporaries, and divided them into three categories: monarchs, aristocrats, and scholars. Additionally, an extensive introduction places the work in context and describes the critical attention that Thevet and his writings have received. Together these portraits provide a history of sixteenth-century France as the country underwent tremendous change: from an intellectual renaissance and its first encounter with the New World to the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion that followed. France was irrevocably altered by these events and Thevet’s account of the lives of individuals who struggled with them is indispensable.
Portraits from the French Renaissance and the Wars of Religion (Early Modern Studies)
by André ThevetAvailable for the first time in English, these thirteen selections from André Thevet’s Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres offer a glimpse of France during a time of great upheaval. Originally published in 1584, Thevet’s collection contains over two hundred biographical sketches, detailing the lives of important persons from antiquity to the sixteenth century. Edward Benson and Roger Schlesinger have translated and annotated Thevet’s portraits of his contemporaries, and divided them into three categories: monarchs, aristocrats, and scholars. Additionally, an extensive introduction places the work in context and describes the critical attention that Thevet and his writings have received. Together these portraits provide a history of sixteenth-century France as the country underwent tremendous change: from an intellectual renaissance and its first encounter with the New World to the Protestant Reformation and the Wars of Religion that followed. France was irrevocably altered by these events and Thevet’s account of the lives of individuals who struggled with them is indispensable.
Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford
by Donald SpotoJoan Crawford was one of the most incandescent film stars of all time, yet she was also one of the most misunderstood. In this brilliantlyresearched, thoughtful, and intimate biography, bestselling author Donald Spoto goes beyond the popular caricature—the abusive, unstable mother portrayed in her adopted daughter Christina Crawford’s memoir, Mommie Dearest—to give us a three-dimensional portrait of a very human woman, her dazzling career, and her extraordinarily dramatic life and times.Based on new archival information and exclusive interviews, and written with Spoto’s keen eye for detail, Possessed offers a fascinating portrait of a courageous, highly sexed, and ambitious womanwhose strength and drive made her a forerunner in the fledgling film business. From her hardscrabble childhood in Texas to her early days as a dancer in post–World War I New York to her rise to stardom,Spoto traces Crawford’s fifty years of memorable performances in classics like Rain, The Women, Mildred Pierce, and Sudden Fear, which are as startling and vivid today as when they were filmed.In Possessed, Spoto goes behind the myths to examine the rise and fall of the studio system; Crawford’s four marriages; her passionate thirty year, on-and-off-again affair with Clark Gable; her friendships and rivalries with other stars; her powerful desire to become a mother; the truth behind the scathing stories in her daughter Christina’s memoir; and her final years as a widow battling cancer. Spoto explores Crawford’s achievements as an actress, her work with Hollywood’s great directors (Frank Borzage, George Cukor, Otto Preminger) and actors (Henry Fonda, James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Barrymore), and later, her role as a highly effective executive on the board of directors of Pepsi-Cola.Illuminating and entertaining, Possessed is the definitive biography of this remarkable woman and true legend of film.
Possessing Me: A Memoir of Healing
by Jane AlexanderThe author describes in exacting detail, her eventual path to healing from childhood neglect and abandonment, post traumatic stress disorder and manic depression, as she discovers the secret to lasting happiness.
Possum Living (Almost) No Money: How To Live Well Without A Job And With (almost) No Money
by Dolly FreedAfter being out of print for decades, Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and (Almost) No Money is being reissued with an afterword by an older and wiser Dolly Freed. In the late seventies, at the age of eighteen and with a seventh-grade education, Dolly Freed wrote Possum Livingabout the five years she and her father lived off the land on a half-acre lot outside of Philadelphia. At the time of its publication in 1978, Possum Living became an instant classic, known for its plucky narration and no-nonsense practical advice on how to quit the rat race and live frugally. In her delightful, straightforward, and irreverent style, Freed guides readers on how to buy and maintain a home, dress well, cope with the law, stay healthy, save money, and be lazy, proud, miserly, and honest, all while enjoying leisure and keeping up a middle-class façade. Thirty years later, Freed's philosophy is world-renowned andPossum Living remains as fascinating, inspirational, and pertinent as it was upon its original publication. This updated edition includes new reflections, insights, and life lessons from an older and wiser Dolly Freed, whose knowledge of how to live like a possum has given her financial security and the confidence to try new ventures.
The Power of Dyslexic Thinking: How a Learning (dis)Ability Shaped Six Successful Careers
by Robert W. Langston<p>Robert Langston shares the inspirational stories of people who overcame the hurdles of living with dyslexia to become influential business and cultural leaders. From Kinko's founder Paul Orfalea to prominent financier Charles Schwab to Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Peters, Langston profiles some of the biggest players in the business world and elsewhere to paint amazing portraits of courage and dedication. <p>Through both research and personal experience, Langston has come to believe that dyslexia is a condition that does not need curing, but rather a greater understanding of the different capabilities and skills it can provide those who have it. He hopes that understanding more about the creative and intuitive benefits of dyslexia will allow educators and parents, as well as dyslexic children, to see dyslexia not as a disability, but as a gift.</p>
The Pox and the Covenant
by Tony WilliamsFor one hundred years, God had held to his promise, and the colonists had as well. When the first Puritans sailed into Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, weak from the ocean journey, they formed a covenant with each other and with God to establish a city on a hill-a commitment to live uncorrupted lives together or all suffer divine wrath for their collective sin. But now, a century later, the arrival of one doomed ship would put this covenant to its greatest test. On April 22, 1721, the HMS Seahorse arrived in Boston from the West Indies, carrying goods, cargo, and, unbeknownst to its crew, a deadly virus. Soon, a smallpox epidemic had broken out in Boston, causing hundreds of deaths and panic across the city. The clergy, including the famed Cotton Mather, turned to their standard form of defense against disease: fasting and prayer. But a new theory was also being offered to the public by the scientific world: inoculation. The fierce debate over the right way to combat the tragedy would become a battle between faith and reason, one that would set the city aflame with rage and riot. The Pox and the Covenant is a story of well known figures such as Cotton Mather, James Franklin, and a young Benjamin Franklin struggling to fight for their cause among death and debate-although not always for the side one would expect. In the end, the incredible results of the epidemic and battle would reshape the colonists' view of their destiny, setting for America a new course, a new covenant, and the first drumbeats of revolution.
Predator: The Remote-Control Air War Over Iraq and Afghanistan: A Pilot's Story
by Matt J. Martin Charles W. SasserThe Nintendo generation has taken to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan where remotely controlled aircraft are killing America¹s enemies and saving American lives.Matt J. Martin is considered a "top gun" in the world of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For nearly four years, he has flown hundreds of missions on two warfronts in a new kind of combat that, until recently, was largely classified Top Secret. He and his fellow Predator pilots have been actively involved in virtually every facet of the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan: tracking Osama bin Laden; capturing top al-Qaeda leader al-Zarqawi; fighting with the U.S. Marines in Fallujah; and rescuing aid workers kidnapped in Afghanistan by the Taliban.This is Matt J. Martin's story and that of his aircraft, the 27-foot long Predator.
Prep School Boys
by Josi DashmanChace Crawford, Ed Westwick, and Penn Badgley are best known for their roles on the CW's hit series Gossip Girl, but they've also made names for themselves by starring in major Hollywood films and posing on the covers of popular magazines like Rolling Stone. We've got all the most gossip-worthy information on these three boys, from their early years to their career-changing roles as Upper East Side prep boys, complete with eight pages of color photos!
A Preparation for Death
by Greg BaxterIn his early thirties, Greg Baxter found himself in a strange place. He hated his job, he was drinking excessively, he was sabotaging his most important relationships, and he was no longer doing the thing he cared about most: writing. Strangest of all, at this time he started teaching evening classes in creative writing - and his life changed utterly.A Preparation for Death is a document of the chaos and discovery of that time and of the experiences that led Greg Baxter to that strange place - an extraordinarily intimate account of literary failure (and its consequences), personal decay, and redemption through reading, writing, and truth-telling. 'Brilliant and wonderfully original ... Yes, this is a book about drinking and shagging. But rarely have these things been written about so well' William Leith, Literary Review'Baxter is a serious, thoughtful writer, bend on emotional truth and artistry. He has written an unusual, provocative book' Suzi Feay, Financial Times'Brave, honest and propulsive' Metro'The triumph is the steely courage it takes to put a life down with such uncompromising clarity' Hugo Hamilton, Irish Times'This is an occasionally infuriating and completely wonderful book. I read it in one sitting, unsettled and delighted by its ferocity' Anne Enright
Prepared: Using the Gridiron's Boundaries to Reach Your Limitless Potential
by Reggie Kelly Barton GreenReggie Kelly of the Cincinnati Bengals tells how our measure of success, both on the field and in our daily life, is defined by what we are willing and able to do, despite our surroundings. From the first backyard Training Camp--the Garden of Eden--to the grassy scrimmage line of an NFL faceoff, Reggie explores the timeless lessons that shape the three ever-developing parts of mankind: the Body, Mind and Spirit. As Reggie notes, "Be it the gates of Heaven or the goalposts of the Super Bowl, we are not worthy, nor ready to stand before either until we are first ... prepared. "
A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama's Promise, Wall Street's Power, and the Struggle to Control Our Economic Future
by Robert KuttnerAs with many progressives who had pinned their hopes on the promise of Barack Obama, Kuttner (co-editor of The American Prospect magazine) has become disappointed with President Obama's failure to deliver transformational change in the realm of US economic policy. He delivers a work of reportage, analysis, and critique that seeks to understand the reasons for Obama's basic acquiescence to the priorities of Wall Street over those of Main Street and his failure to push for strong financial regulation in the face of economic crisis. Although he is critical of Obama's economic performance in the first two years, he holds out hope that the President may yet salvage his legacy and offers advice on how Obama could go about redeeming his presidency. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
A Presidency in Peril
by Robert KuttnerAs with many progressives who had pinned their hopes on the promise of Barack Obama, Kuttner (co-editor of The American Prospect magazine) has become disappointed with President Obama's failure to deliver transformational change in the realm of US economic policy. He delivers a work of reportage, analysis, and critique that seeks to understand the reasons for Obama's basic acquiescence to the priorities of Wall Street over those of Main Street and his failure to push for strong financial regulation in the face of economic crisis. Although he is critical of Obama's economic performance in the first two years, he holds out hope that the President may yet salvage his legacy and offers advice on how Obama could go about redeeming his presidency. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
The President'S Legislative Policy Agenda, 1789-2002
by Jeffrey E. CohenJeffrey E. Cohen asks why U. S. presidents send to Congress the legislative proposals that they do and what Congress does with those proposals. His study covers nearly the entire history of the presidency, from 1789 to 2002. The long historical scope allows Cohen to engage competing perspectives on how the presidency has developed over time. He asks what accounts for the short- and long-term trends in presidential requests to Congress, what substantive policies and issues recommendations are concerned with, and what factors affect the presidential decision to submit a recommendation on a particular issue. The President's Legislative Policy Agenda, 1789-2002 argues that presidents often anticipate the Congressional reaction to their legislative proposals and modify their agendas accordingly.
Presidents, Parties, and Prime Ministers
by David J. Samuels Matthew S. ShugartThis book provides a framework for analyzing the impact of the separation of powers on party politics. Conventional political science wisdom assumes that democracy is impossible without political parties, because parties fulfill all the key functions of democratic governance. They nominate candidates, coordinate campaigns, aggregate interests, formulate and implement policy, and manage government power. When scholars first asserted the essential connection between parties and democracy, most of the world's democracies were parliamentary. Yet by the dawn of the twenty-first century, most democracies had directly elected presidents. Given this, if parties are truly critical to democracy, then a systematic understanding of how the separation of powers shapes parties is long overdue. David J. Samuels and Matthew S. Shugart provide a theoretical framework for analyzing variation in the relationships among presidents, parties, and prime ministers across the world's democracies, revealing the important ways that the separation of powers alters party organization and behavior - thereby changing the nature of democratic representation and accountability.
The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership
by Yehuda AvnerYehuda Avner left England and arrived in Palestine in 1947, just weeks before the UN passed a resolution that led to the creation of the State of Israel. An active participant in the dramatic birth of the Jewish state, he went on to serve as Speechwriter and English-Language Secretary to Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir, and Personal Advisor to Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Menachem Begin. From these vantage points, Avner came to know like no one else-- the inner workings of the Prime Minister's Office and four of its key officeholders. The Prime Ministers describes the personal characters of Israel's political leaders in intimate detail, re-enacts their responses to acute situations of war and terror, and unfolds their relationships with world leaders, including US Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat. Based on personal notes, transcripts and correspondence some of which have never before been brought to light The Prime Ministers offers close-up portraits of four remarkable leaders who secured the future of the Jewish state. Includes an index and more than 100 historic photographs and reproduced documents.