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Fourth Down and 50
by James Leon Wilson Andrea WilliamsFrom a murder charge to the San Diego Chargers--defensive back Jimmy Wilson spent more than two years in jail before he was acquitted of murder. In this motivational coming-of-age memoir, he shares the inspiring story of how faith in God and the love of his family helped him turn his life around and achieve his NFL dreams.Jimmy Wilson knew he shouldn't have gone to his Aunt Opal's house on the eve of his return to the University of Montana, where he was a star football player and preseason candidate for All-American. But when he learned her partner had badly beaten her, his primary concern was for the safety of her and her two young children. Growing up a biracial kid in the San Diego projects, Wilson was always fighting. Kids tested him, and he relied on his physical prowess. Tussling with his aunt's abuser on the lawn of her home, trying to defend himself from the man's gun, Wilson was in his element--until a shot accidentally rang out, changing the game. Wilson was labeled a murderer, and his football dreams all but faded. The next two years in jail opened his eyes to another world. When he was finally acquitted, he felt adrift back in his old neighborhood. But through his faith and the support of those who believed in him, Wilson made it back to Montana and eventually to the NFL. This is his uplifting story of growing from a boy to a man and how one bad decision that threatened to end his life became a catalyst for complete transformation.
The ABCs of AOC: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from A to Z
by Jamia WilsonThe ABCs of AOC is an inspiring, educational, and giftable book about the representative taking Congress--and the media--by storm. This empowering and informative book is the perfect conversation starter for young people interested in government and activism, and the ultimate gift for anyone who wants to learn more about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. From Advocate to Feminist, Grassroots to Queens, and Revolutionary to Zeal, The ABCs of AOC introduces readers to values, places, and issues that relate to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's life and platform. A clear and engaging explanation of each term is paired with a stunning, contemporary illustration that will delight readers. This is an alphabet book like no other! The book closes with a wealth of information expanding on the A-Z of concepts introduced, for readers ready to learn more about the revolutionary congresswoman and the US government. Packed with vibrant art and fascinating facts, this tome is perfect for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez admirers, and readers of Notorious RBG, I Dissent!, and Rad American Women A-Z!
All You'll See Is Sky: Resetting a Marriage on an Adventure Through Africa
by Janet A. WilsonDespite having everything she could ask for, Janet Wilson couldn&’t shake a sense of emptiness in her life—or her desire to return to the continent of her birth. After much back-and-forth, she and her husband reached an agreement: they would embark on a daring adventure, driving 25,000 miles across Africa. What they couldn&’t anticipate then was how this trip would challenge almost every belief, opinion, and value they held. Over the course of their journey, Janet and her husband collided with the world and each other. There were tears and laughter. They shared thrilling highlights and challenges that forced them to negotiate and cooperate with one another. And after a heartbreaking tragedy and Janet&’s arrest, they made critical decisions that transformed their relationship, bringing them to a level of trust and commitment they had never before experienced. Ultimately, this led them to a deeper understanding about their place in the world—and each other&’s lives.A suspenseful and emotional true account that explores themes of love, commitment, resilience, and the power of forgiveness in the face of adversity, All You&’ll See is Sky is a memoir of a woman&’s transformation from brokenness to wholeness and a couple's transformation from breakdown to breakthrough.
Jeffrey Sachs
by Japhy WilsonAn investigation of Sachs's schizophrenic career, and the worldwide havoc he has caused. Jeffrey Sachs is a man with many faces. A celebrated economist and special advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, he is also no stranger to the world of celebrity, accompanying Bono, Madonna and Angelina Jolie on high-profile trips to Africa. Once notorious as the progenitor of a brutal form of free market engineering called 'shock therapy', Sachs now positions himself as a voice of progressivism, condemning the '1 per cent' and promoting his solution to extreme poverty through the Millennium Villages Project. Appearances can be deceiving. Jeffrey Sachs: The Strange Case of Dr Shock and Mr Aid is the story of an evangelical development expert who poses as saviour of the Third World while opening vulnerable nations to economic exploitation. Based on documentary research and on-the-ground investigation, Jeffrey Sachs exposes Mr Aid as no more than a new, more human face of Dr Shock. From the Trade Paperback edition.ing himself as an evangelical development expert and savior of the Third World, while actually working to reinforce the neoliberal project that he now claims to oppose. Based on documentary research and on-the-ground investigation of the Millennium Villages Project, Jeffrey Sachs exposes its subject's Jekyll/Hyde complex, showing Mr. Aid to be no more than the new, more human face of Dr. Shock himself. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Living in the Sound of the Wind: A Personal Quest for W.H. Hudson, Naturalist and Writer from the River Plate
by Jason WilsonW. H. Hudson was brought up on the pampas, where he learnt from gauchos about frontier life. After moving to London in 1874, Hudson lived in extreme poverty. Like his friend Joseph Conrad, Hudson was an exile, adapting to England. He never returned to Argentina.Wilson unravels Hudson’s English dream, his natural history rambles, and his work to protect birds. He remains both a complex witness to his homeland before mass immigration and to his England of the mind, before the urban sprawl.Praise for Jason Wilson: Tireless, shrewd, erudite Jason Wilson, mixing hard fact and anthology, provides the perfect outfit of allusion and comparative experience - Jonathan Keates, ObserverPut his treasure trove into your pocket. - Anthony Sattin, Sunday TimesThe idea is so simple that it must be original. This inaugural book might prove to be a landmark. - Nicholas Shakespeare, Daily Telegraph
Cry Like a Man: Fighting for Freedom from Emotional Incarceration
by Jason Wilson Eshon BurgundyAs a leader in teaching, training, and transforming boys in Detroit, Jason Wilson shares his own story of discovering what it means to “be a man” in this life-changing memoir. His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his emotions and yield to God’s call on his life that made Wilson the man and leader he is today. As the founder of one of the country’s most esteemed youth organizations, Wilson has decades of experience in strengthening the physical, mental, and emotional spirit of boys and men. In Cry Like a Man, Wilson explains the dangers men face in our culture’s definition of “masculinity” and gives readers hope that healing is possible. As Wilson writes, “My passion is to help boys and men find strength to become courageously transparent about their own brokenness as I shed light on the symptoms and causes of childhood trauma and ‘father wounds.’ I long to see men free themselves from emotional incarceration—to see their minds renewed, souls weaned, and relationships restored.”
Famous for a Time: Forgotten Giants of Canadian Sport
by Jason Wilson Richard M. ReidCelebrating Canadian athletes and sporting history.The cultural impact of sport on a nation is not slight. Famous for a Time explores a number of important, if not well remembered, Canadian athletes and the sports they played to help explain the nation’s complicated history, sporting and otherwise. It is an exploration that reveals the socio-cultural trends that have shaped Canada since Confederation.Through the prism of some exceptional athletes, the prevailing attitudes of many Canadians about class, race, masculinity, femininity, and national identity are laid bare. Here, from the sidelines, we learn how these attitudes have changed — or not, as the case may be — over time.From team sports such as lacrosse, baseball, and cricket to Canada’s cycling craze, track and field, and boxing, each chapter offers insight into an important aspect of the nation’s narrative. The winners and losers of Canada’s games simply mirror the larger questions that have faced Canadian society across three centuries.
J.P. Bickell: The Life, the Leafs, and the Legacy
by Jason Wilson Kevin Shea Graham MaclachlanHe stayed out of the spotlight, but Leafs fans know J.P. Bickell cast a long shadow. A self-made mining magnate and the man who kept the Maple Leafs in Toronto and financed Maple Leaf Gardens, J.P. Bickell lived an extraordinary and purposeful life. As one of the most important industrialists in Canadian history, Bickell left his mark on communities across the nation. He was a cornerstone of the Toronto Maple Leafs, which awards the J.P. Bickell Memorial Award to recognize outstanding service to the organization. Bickell’s story is also tied up with some of the most famous Canadians of his day, including Mitchell Hepburn, Roy Thomson, and Conn Smythe. Through his charitable foundation, he has been a key benefactor of the Hospital for Sick Children, and his legacy continues to transform Toronto. Yet, though Bickell was so important both to Toronto and the Maple Leafs, the story of his incredible life is today largely obscure. This book sets the record straight, presenting the definitive story of his rise to prominence and his lasting legacy — on the ice and off.
Running Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters
by Jennifer WilsonA middle class, Midwestern family in search of meaning uproot themselves and move to their ancestral village in Croatia."We can look at this in two ways," Jim wrote, always the pragmatist. "We can panic and scrap the whole idea. Or we can take this as a sign. They're saying the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. Maybe this is the kick in the pants we needed to do something completely different. There will always be an excuse not to go…"And that, friends, is how a typically sane middle-aged mother decided to drag her family back to a forlorn mountain village in the backwoods of Croatia.So begins author Jennifer Wilson's journey in Running Away to Home. Jen, her architect husband, Jim, and their two children had been living the typical soccer- and ballet-practice life in the most Middle American of places: Des Moines, Iowa. They overindulged themselves and their kids, and as a family they were losing one another in the rush of work, school, and activities. One day, Jen and her husband looked at each other–both holding their Starbucks coffee as they headed out to their SUV in the mall parking lot, while the kids complained about the inferiority of the toys they just got–and asked themselves: "Is this the American dream? Because if it is, it sort of sucks."Jim and Jen had always dreamed of taking a family sabbatical in another country, so when they lost half their savings in the stock-market crash, it seemed like just a crazy enough time to do it. High on wanderlust, they left the troubled landscape of contemporary America for the Croatian mountain village of Mrkopalj, the land of Jennifer's ancestors. It was a village that seemed hermetically sealed for the last one hundred years, with a population of eight hundred (mostly drunken) residents and a herd of sheep milling around the post office. For several months they lived like locals, from milking the neighbor's cows to eating roasted pig on a spit to desperately seeking the village recipe for bootleg liquor. As the Wilson-Hoff family struggled to stay sane (and warm), what they found was much deeper and bigger than themselves.
Soaring in Style: How Amelia Earhart Became a Fashion Icon
by Jennifer Lane WilsonLong before Amelia Earhart became a superstar, she was a girl who longed to touch the stars. But the dresses women had to wear at the time made those dreams seem almost impossible. Amelia didn't let that stop her. As a young aviator breaking records and expectations, she learned to fly her plane with flair. Later, she dared to create a trendsetting fashion line for active women like herself. Soaring in Style tells the groundbreaking story of how Amelia Earhart defied expectations in the air and on the ground to become America’s first celebrity fashion designer.
Discovering the Arctic: The Story of John Rae
by John WilsonShort-listed for the 2004 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Norma Fleck Award and commended for the 2004 Best Books for Kids and Teens Discovering the Arctic is an exciting recounting of the life of a 19th century doctor and explorer who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company and opened up vast tracts of land in the Canadian Arctic and may have been the true discoverer of the Northwest Passage. Rae discovered the fate of the failed Franklin Expedition and evidence of cannibalism on the bones he found, but he was disgraced by a slanderous campaign against his name, which resulted in a century of subsequent obscurity. Rae was one of the first Europeans to show respect for Inuit customs and to take inspiration from their Arctic survival skills. John Wilson brings this fascinating man and his times to life in an exciting narrative full of survival stories, shipwrecks and scandals. The book is illustrated with sketches, maps and archival photos.
John Franklin
by John WilsonJohn Franklin explored and charted Canada’s arctic seacoast in 1819-1822, 1825-27, and 1845. On the first expedition he nearly starved and on the third he died. None of his men survived the third expedition, but the search for clues to their fate helped open up the North and his celebrated Canadian song and stories.
Righting Wrongs: The Story of Norman Bethune
by John WilsonShort-listed for the 2002 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Norma Fleck Award <P><P>Norman Bethune was a doctor who devoted his life to helping others and whose story is a remarkable one, cut short by his early death in China in 1938. <P><P>This biography in our Stories of Canada series traces his life from his childhood spent moving around Ontario as a preacher’s son to his experiences in the First World War and his crusades to find a cure for tuberculosis and to promote health care in Canada. <P><P>But Bethune is most famous for the time he spent fighting Fascism through his profession of healing in Spain and China during the late 1930s. His story inspires us to believe that we can change the world through our actions.
A Soldier's Sketchbook: The Illustrated First World War Diary of R.H. Rabjohn
by John WilsonA unique First World War diary, illustrated with more than a hundred stunning pencil sketches, for children learning history and also for adults interested in a new perspective on the War and authentic wartime artefacts.Russell Rabjohn was just eighteen years old when he joined up to fight in the First World War. In his three years of soldiering, he experienced the highs and lows of army life, from a carefree leave in Paris to the anguish of seeing friends die around him. Like many soldiers, he defied army regulations and recorded everything he saw and felt in a small pocket diary. Private Rabjohn was a trained artist, and as such he was assigned to draw dugouts, map newly captured trenches, and sketch the graves of his fallen comrades. This allowed him to carry an artist's sketchbook on the battlefield--a freedom he put to good use, drawing everything he saw. Here, in vivid detail, are images of the captured pilot of a downed German biplane; the horrific Flanders mud; a German observation balloon exploding in midair; and the jubilant mood in the streets of Belgium when the Armistice is finally signed. With no surviving veterans of the First World War, Rabjohn's drawings are an unmatched visual record of a lost time. Award-winning author John Wilson brings his skills as a historian and researcher to bear, carefully curating the diary to provide context and tell the story of Private Rabjohn's war. He has selected each of the diary entries and the accompanying images, and has provided the background that modern-day readers need to understand what a young soldier went through a century ago. The result is a wonderfully detailed and dramatic account of the war as seen through an artist's eyes.
Jackie Robinson and the American Dilemma: The Library of American Biography
by John R. M. WilsonIn this book, John R.M. Wilson illustrates how Jackie Robinson’s life transcended his baseball career to illuminate the racial struggles of the nation. By breaking the color barrier in baseball, Jackie Robinson (1919―1973) brought the American public face-to-face with a dilemma that has plagued the nation throughout its history: the disjuncture between the American ideals of liberty and equality and the realities of racial prejudice, segregation, and discrimination.
St. Petersburg's Historic African American Neighborhoods: Community, Culture, and Connection (American Heritage)
by Jon Wilson Rosalie PeckPepper Town, Methodist Town, the Gas Plant district and the 22nd Street South community--these once segregated neighborhoods were built by African Americans in the face of injustice. The resilient people who lived in these neighbourhoods established strong businesses, raised churches, created vibrant entertainment spots and forged bonds among family and friends for mutual well-being. <p><p> After integration, the neighbourhoods eventually gave way to decay and urban renewal, and tales of unquenchable spirit in the face of adversity began to fade. In this companion volume to St. Petersburg's Historic 22nd Street South, Rosalie Peck and Jon Wilson share stories of people who built these thriving communities, and offer a rich narrative of hardships overcome, leaders who emerged and the perseverance of pioneers who kept the faith that a better day would arrive.
Brian Clough: The Biography
by Jonathan WilsonThe final word on Brian CloughIn this first full, critical biography, Jonathan Wilson draws an intimate and powerful portrait of one of England's greatest football managers, Brian Clough, and his right-hand man, Peter Taylor. It was in the unforgiving world of post-war football where their identities and reputations were made - a world where, as Clough and Taylor's mentor Harry Storer once said, 'Nobody ever says thank you.'Nonetheless, Clough brought the gleam of silverware to the depressed East Midlands of the 1970s. Initial triumph at Derby was followed by a sudden departure and a traumatic 44 days at Leeds. By the end of a frazzled 1974, Clough was set up for life financially, but also hardened to the realities of football. By the time he was at Forest, Clough's mask was almost permanently donned: a persona based on brashness and conflict. Drink fuelled the controversies and the colourful character; it heightened the razor-sharp wit and was a salve for the highs of football that never lasted long enough, and for the lows that inevitably followed. Wilson's account is the definitive portrait of this complex and enduring man.
Brian Clough: The Biography
by Jonathan WilsonThe final word on Brian CloughIn this first full, critical biography, Jonathan Wilson draws an intimate and powerful portrait of one of England's greatest football managers, Brian Clough, and his right-hand man, Peter Taylor. It was in the unforgiving world of post-war football where their identities and reputations were made - a world where, as Clough and Taylor's mentor Harry Storer once said, 'Nobody ever says thank you.'Nonetheless, Clough brought the gleam of silverware to the depressed East Midlands of the 1970s. Initial triumph at Derby was followed by a sudden departure and a traumatic 44 days at Leeds. By the end of a frazzled 1974, Clough was set up for life financially, but also hardened to the realities of football. By the time he was at Forest, Clough's mask was almost permanently donned: a persona based on brashness and conflict. Drink fuelled the controversies and the colourful character; it heightened the razor-sharp wit and was a salve for the highs of football that never lasted long enough, and for the lows that inevitably followed. Wilson's account is the definitive portrait of this complex and enduring man.
Marc Chagall (Jewish Encounters Series)
by Jonathan WilsonNovelist and critic Jonathan Wilson clears away the sentimental mists surrounding an artist whose career spanned two world wars, the Russian Revolution, the Holocaust, and the birth of the State of Israel. Marc Chagall's work addresses these transforming events, but his ambivalence about his role as a Jewish artist adds an intriguing wrinkle to common assumptions about his life. Drawn to sacred subject matter, Chagall remains defiantly secular in outlook; determined to "narrate" the miraculous and tragic events of the Jewish past, he frequently chooses Jesus as a symbol of martyrdom and sacrifice. Wilson brilliantly demonstrates how Marc Chagall's life constitutes a grand canvas on which much of twentieth-century Jewish history is vividly portrayed. Chagall left Belorussia for Paris in 1910, at the dawn of modernism, looking back dreamily on the world he abandoned. After his marriage to Bella Rosenfeld in 1915, he moved to Petrograd, but eventually returned to Paris after a stint as a Soviet commissar for art. Fleeing Paris steps ahead of the Nazis, Chagall arrived in New York in 1941. Drawn to Israel, but not enough to live there, Chagall grappled endlessly with both a nostalgic attachment to a vanished past and the magnetic pull of an uninhibited secular present. Wilson's portrait of Chagall is altogether more historical, more political, and edgier than conventional wisdom would have us believe-showing us how Chagall is the emblematic Jewish artist of the twentieth century. Visit nextbook. org/chagall for a virtual museum of Chagall images. From the Hardcover edition.
Two Brothers
by Jonathan WilsonTwo Brothers tells the story of a great sporting family, uncovering new details, exposing myths and placing Jack and Bobby Charlton in their historical context. It's a book about two English footballers but also about English football and England itself.In later life Jack and Bobby didn't get on and barely spoke but the lives of these very different brothers from the coalfield tell the story of late twentieth-century English football: the tensions between flair and industry, between individuality and the collective, between right and left, between middle- and working-classes, between exile and home.Jack was open, charismatic, selfish and pig-headed; Bobby was guarded, shy, polite and reserved to the point of reclusiveness. They were very different footballers: Jack a gangling central defender who developed a profound tactical intelligence; Bobby an athletic attacking midfielder who disdained systems. They played for clubs who embodied two very different approaches, the familial closeness and tactical cohesion of Leeds on the one hand and the individualistic flair and clashing egos of Manchester United on the other.Both enjoyed great success as players: Jack won a league, a Cup and two Fairs Cups with Leeds; Bobby won a league title, survived the terrible disaster of the plane crash in Munich, and then at enormous emotional cost, won a Cup and two more league titles before capping it off with the European Cup. Together, for England, they won the World Cup.Their managerial careers followed predictably diverging paths, Bobby failing at Preston while Jack enjoyed success at Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before leading Ireland to previously un-imagined heights. Both were financially very successful, but Jack remained staunchly left-wing while Bobby tended to conservatism. In the end, Jack returned to Northumberland; Bobby remained in the North-West.Two Brothers tells a story of social history as well as two of the most famous football players of their generation. Praise for Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics'If Jonathan Wilson's first book Behind the Curtain, marked him as the rising star of Sports literature, Inverting the Pyramid confirms his place among our very best sports writers''Simply one of the best books ever written about the world's game' Dominic SandbrookPraise for Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography of Brian Clough'In separating the man from the myth, Jonathan Wilson's biography of Brian Clough is the first to do him justice' Barney Ronay The Observer'Jonathan Wilson's mighty new biography' Harry Pearson When Saturday Comes
Two Brothers
by Jonathan WilsonThe story of Jack and Bobby Charlton, and a family that characterised English football for decades'Gripping' Daily Mail'Wilson is a fine, nuanced writer' TLS'A powerful chronicle' Irish Times'Surprisingly moving' Guardian'Razor-sharp tactical analysis' Irish IndependentIn later life Jack and Bobby didn't get on and barely spoke but the lives of these very different brothers from the coalfield tell the story of late twentieth-century English football: the tensions between flair and industry, between individuality and the collective, between right and left, between middle- and working-classes, between exile and home.Jack was open, charismatic, selfish and pig-headed; Bobby was guarded, shy, polite and reserved to the point of reclusiveness. They were very different footballers: Jack a gangling central defender who developed a profound tactical intelligence; Bobby an athletic attacking midfielder who disdained systems. They played for clubs who embodied two very different approaches, the familial closeness and tactical cohesion of Leeds on the one hand and the individualistic flair and clashing egos of Manchester United on the other.Both enjoyed great success as players: Jack won a league, a Cup and two Fairs Cups with Leeds; Bobby won a league title, survived the terrible disaster of the plane crash in Munich, and then at enormous emotional cost, won a Cup and two more league titles before capping it off with the European Cup. Together, for England, they won the World Cup.Their managerial careers followed predictably diverging paths, Bobby failing at Preston while Jack enjoyed success at Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday before leading Ireland to previously un-imagined heights. Both were financially very successful, but Jack remained staunchly left-wing while Bobby tended to conservatism. In the end, Jack returned to Northumberland; Bobby remained in the North-West.Two Brothers tells a story of social history as well as two of the most famous football players of their generation.
The Politics of Truth: A Diplomat's Memoir
by Joseph WilsonAmbassador Wilson writes a very engaging memoir of how he wound up in the diplomatic service. We follow his career from support staff overseas, to ambassador of several small African nations. He was also the last charge d'affairs in Iraq after the war began in 1990. He tells the story of how he got tangled up in the hardball and brutal politics of the current Bush administration, and how it differs from the norms of civil discourse in politics, and even from the first Bush administration, which praised Wilson lavishly.
Only in Naples: Lessons in Food and Famiglia from My Italian Mother-in-Law
by Katherine WilsonFull of lighthearted humor, sumptuous food, the wisdom of an Italian mother-in-law, and all the atmosphere of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, this warm and witty memoir follows American-born Katherine Wilson on her adventures abroad. Thanks to a surprising romance--and a spirited woman who teaches her to laugh, to seize joy, and to love--a three-month rite of passage in Naples turns into a permanent embrace of this boisterous city on the Mediterranean.When I saw the sea at Gaeta, I knew that Naples was near and I was coming home."There is a chaotic, vibrant energy about Naples that forces you to let go and give in," writes Katherine, who arrives in the city to intern at the United States Consulate. One evening, she meets handsome, studious Salvatore and finds herself immediately enveloped by his elegant mother, Raffaella, and the rest of the Avallone family. From that moment, Katherine's education begins: Never eat the crust of a pizza first, always stand up and fight for yourself and your loved ones, and consider mealtimes sacred--food must be prepared fresh and consumed in compagnia. Immersed in Neapolitan culture, traditions, and cuisine, slowly and unexpectedly falling for Salvatore, and longing for Raffaella's company and guidance, Katherine discovers how to prepare meals that sing, from hearty, thick ragù to comforting rigatoni alla Genovese to pasta al forno, a casserole chock-full of bacon, béchamel, and no fewer than four kinds of cheeses. The secret to succulent, tender octopus? Beat it with a hammer. While Katherine is used to large American kitchens with islands and barstools, she understands the beauty of small, tight Italian ones, where it's easy to offer a taste from a wooden spoon. Through courtship, culture clashes, Sunday services, marriage, and motherhood (in Naples, a pregnancy craving must always be satisfied!), Katherine comes to appreciate carnale, the quintessentially Neapolitan sense of comfort and confidence in one's own skin. Raffaella and her famiglia are also experts at sdrammatizzare, knowing how to suck the tragedy from something and spit it out with a great big smile. Part travel tale, part love letter, Only in Naples is a sumptuous story that is a feast for the senses. Goethe said, "See Naples and die." But Katherine Wilson saw Naples and started to live. Advance praise for Only in Naples "In a world filled with food memoirs, this one stands out. Katherine Wilson gives us more than the fabulous food of Naples. She offers us a passport to an exotic country we would never be able to enter on our own."--Ruth Reichl, author of My Kitchen Year"Wilson has written a glorious memoir celebrating the holy trinity of Italian life: love, food, and family. Her keen eye and sense of humor take you through the winding streets of Naples at a clip, on a ride you hope will never end."--Adriana Trigiani, author of The Shoemaker's Wife "How lucky we are to get these hilarious and wise perceptions filtered through a sincerely loving eye."--Julie Klam, author of Friendkeeping "This thoroughly enjoyable love letter to Naples is a tribute to the author's irrepressible mother-in-law."--Luisa Weiss, author of My Berlin Kitchen and founder of The Wednesday Chef "Wilson's easygoing writing perfectly suits this tale of an innocent abroad, an American girl who discovers herself in the midst of a foreign culture that becomes, in the end, her own."--Kate Christensen, author of How to Cook a MooseFrom the Hardcover edition.
Family War Stories: The Densmores' Fight to Save the Union and Destroy Slavery (The North's Civil War)
by Keith P. WilsonBased on an extensive collection of letters written from the home front and the battlefront, Family War Stories offers fresh insights into how the reciprocal nature of family correspondence can shape a family’s understanding of the war.Family War Stories examines the contribution of the Densmore family to the Northern Civil War effort. It extends the boundaries of research in two directions. First, by describing how members of this white family from Minnesota were mobilized to fight a family war on the home front and the battlefront, and second, by exploring how the war challenged the family’s abolitionist beliefs and racial attitudes. Family War Stories argues that the totality of the family’s Civil War experience was intricately shaped by the dynamics of family life and the reciprocal nature of family correspondence. Further, it argues that the serving sons’ understanding of the war was shaped by their direct military experiences in the army camps and battlefields and how their loved ones at home interpreted these experiences.With two sons serving as officers in the United States Colored Troops’ regiments fighting in the Mississippi Valley, the Densmore family was heavily involved in destroying slavery. Family War Stories analyses how the sons’ military experiences tested the family’s abolitionist ideology and its commitment to white racial superiority. It also explains how the family sought to accommodate the presence of a refugee from slavery working in the family kitchen. In some ways, the presence of this worker in the household posed an even greater range of challenges to the family’s racial beliefs than the sons’ military service.By examining one family’s deep involvement in the war against slavery, Wilson analyses how the Civil War posed particular challenges to Northerners committed to abolitionism and white supremacy.