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The Native American Experience: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Fetterman Massacre, and Creek Mary's Blood
by Dee BrownThree powerful tales from the acclaimed chronicler of the American West—including the #1 New York Times bestseller, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Two profoundly moving, candid histories and a powerful novel illuminate important aspects of the Native American story. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: The #1 New York Times bestseller that awakened the world to the destruction of American Indians in the nineteenth-century West, Dee Brown&’s groundbreaking history focuses on the betrayals, battles, and systematic slaughter suffered by Native American tribes between 1860 and 1890, culminating in the Sioux massacre at Wounded Knee. &“Shattering, appalling, compelling . . . One wonders, reading this searing, heartbreaking book, who, indeed, were the savages&” (The Washington Post). The Fetterman Massacre: A riveting account of events leading up to the Battle of the Hundred Slain—the devastating 1866 conflict at Wyoming&’s Ft. Phil Kearney that pitted Lakota, Arapaho, and Northern Cheyenne warriors—including Oglala chief Red Cloud, against the United States cavalry under the command of Captain William Fetterman. Based on a wealth of historical resources and sparked by Brown&’s narrative genius, this is an essential look at one of the frontier&’s defining conflicts. Creek Mary&’s Blood: This New York Times bestseller fictionalizes the true story of Mary Musgrove—born in 1700 to a Creek tribal chief—and five generations of her family. The sweeping narrative spans the Revolutionary War, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil War—in which Mary&’s descendants fought on both sides of the conflict. Rich in detail and human drama, Creek Mary&’s Blood offers &“a robust, unfussed crash-course in Native American history that rolls from East to West with dark, inexorable energy&” (Kirkus Reviews).
Viva Mexico! A Traveller's Account of Life in Mexico
by Charles Macomb FlandreauFirst published in 1908, this is a classic memoir about life in Mexico (from the point of a wealthy foreigner) in the years before the Revolution of 1910. Flandreau describes life on a coffee plantation, and attempts to explain Mexican character and folkways. Although much in this book is overtly racist by today's standards, Flandreau's observations are vivid and his storytelling is often compelling.
Giant
by Marilyn Ann MossMarilyn Mosss Giant examines the life of one of the most influential directors to work in Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1960s. George Stevens directed such popular and significant films as Shane, Giant, A Place in the Sun, and The Diary of Anne Frank.
Henry James: A Small Boy and Others / Notes of a Son and Brother / The Middle Years / Other Writings
by Henry James Philip HorneThe most extensive collection of Henry James's autobiographical writings ever published offers a revelatory self-portrait from one of America's supreme novelists and his famous family. In 1911, deeply affected by the death of his brother William the year before, Henry James began working on a book about his early life. As was customary for James in his later years, he dictated his recollections to his secretary Theodora Bosanquet, who recalled how "a straight dive into the past brought to the surface treasure after treasure." A Small Boy and Others (1913) and the two autobiographical books that followed--Notes of a Son and Brother (1914) and the incomplete, posthumously published The Middle Years--stand with his later novels as one of the enduring triumphs of his final years. Not only did James create one of the singular self-portraits in American literature, he also fashioned a richly detailed account of his renowned family, especially his father, the social philosopher Henry James Sr., his brother William, and his dear cousin Minny Temple, inspiration for the heroines of two of his greatest novels, The Portrait of a Lady and The Wings of the Dove.Rounding out the volume is a selection of eight other personal reminiscences and, as an appendix, his secretary's insightful and affectionate memoir, "Henry James at Work."From the Hardcover edition.
Love and Fatigue in America
by Roger KingLove and Fatigue in Americarecords an Englishman’s decade-long journey through his newly adopted country in the company of a mystifying illness and a charismatic dog. When he receives an unexpected invitation from an unfamiliar American university, he embraces it as a triumphant new beginning. Instead, on arrival, he is stricken with a persistent inability to stand up or think straight, and things quickly go wrong. Diagnosed with ME disease—chronic fatigue syndrome—he moves restlessly from state to state, woman to woman, and eccentric doctor to eccentric doctor, in a search for a love and a life suited to his new condition. The journey is simultaneously brave, absurd, and instructive. Finding himself prostrate on beds and couches from Los Alamos to Albany, he hears the intimate stories offered by those he encounters—their histories, hurts, and hopes—and from these fragments an unsentimental map emerges of the inner life of a nation. Disability has shifted his interest in America from measuring its opportunities to taking the measure of its humanity. Forced to consider for himself the meaning of a healthy life and how best to nurture it, he incidentally delivers a report on the health of a country. By turns insightful, comic, affecting, and profound, Roger King’sLove and Fatigue in Americabriskly compresses an illness, a nation, and an era through masterly blending of literary forms. In a work that defies categorization, and never loses its pace or poise, the debilitated narrator is, ironically, the most lively and fully awake figure in the book. “Remarkable. . . . [S]mart and funny. . . . [A]musing observations about everything American. . . . [T]his is not a traditional novel. . . . [T]his, as it turns out, is a brilliant perspective from which to view and write about life. . . . [G]reat reckonings unfurl in mere paragraphs. ”—Jackson Newspapers. com “As the disease drives the narrator city to city, woman to woman, and doctor to doctor, it brings into relief many of America’s follies and excesses, most notably our health-care system, which King portrayed as antiquated, bureaucratic, and inhumane. After more than fifteen years, America brings the narrator ‘not aspiration realized, nor a largeness of life fitting to its open spaces, but the nascent ability to be satisfied with less. ’”—The New Yorker
Storm in My Heart
by Helene MinkinPartner of one of the most infamous anarchists of her time, Johann Most, Helene Minkin joined the anarchist movement after emigrating from Russia in 1888 with her father and sister. Framed as a reaction and corrective to Emma Goldman's Living My Life, Minkin's memoir provides a unique account of turn-of-the-century anarchism and immigrant life in the United States. Published in the Yiddish-language newspaper Forverts in 1932, this is its first English translation. Tom Goyens teaches American history at Salisbury University in Maryland. He is the author of Beer and Revolution: The German Anarchist Movement in New York City, 1880–1914.
Geronimo's Story of His Life: As Told to S. M. Barrett
by Geronimo S. M. BarrettA pivotal piece of nineteenth-century Native American history from a tireless warrior seeking justice for his people. Storied leader of the Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua Apache tribe, Geronimo led resistance against Mexican and American troops seeking to drive the Apache from their land during the 1850s through the 1880s. In 1886, he finally surrendered to the US Army and became a prisoner of war. Although he would never return to his homeland, Geronimo became an iconic figure in Native American society and even had the honor of riding with President Theodore Roosevelt in his 1905 inaugural parade. That same year, he agreed to share his story with Stephen M. Barrett, a superintendent of education from Lawton, Oklahoma. In Geronimo&’s own words, this is his fascinating life story. Beginning with an Apache creation myth, he discusses his youth and family, the bloody conflicts between Mexico and the United States, and his two decades of life as a prisoner. Revered by his people and feared by his enemies, Geronimo narrates his memoir with a compassionate and compelling voice that still resonates today.
Lord Randolph Churchill Volume 1 (Lord Randolph Churchill #1)
by Winston S. ChurchillThe first volume of the Nobel Prize-winning Prime Minister&’s biography of his father, the fiery Conservative Party leader of late Victorian Britain. In 1906, Sir Winston Churchill produced a two-volume biography of his father Lord Randolph Churchill, the 19th century Member of Parliament whose political career ended in scandal. This first volume deals with early events in Randolph&’s life, including his upbringing, his education, and his election to the House of Commons as the Conservative MP for Woodstock. This volume also recount&’s Randolph&’s quarrel with the Prince of Wales in a daring gambit to protect the integrity of the Churchill family name. This episode resulted in Churchill&’s temporary exile from British high society, a prequel to his later disgrace. While Winston Churchill is clearly a supporter of his father&’s, he is not afraid to be honest about the mistakes and failures of his career and personal life.
Un mes en Siena
by Hisham MatarUn relato conmovedor sobre la fuerza del arte para sobreponerse al dolor y la desdicha. La pintura de la escuela de Siena se materializa por primera vez en la vida de Hisham Matar cuando el entonces joven estudiante, y futuro autor de El regreso -el poliédrico relato autobiográfico galardonado con el Premio Pulitzer-, se interna en la National Gallery londinense en busca de consuelo tras el secuestro y desaparición de su padre a manos de la policía secreta libia. Frente a ese terrible desgarro familiar, el colorido, la delicadeza de la factura, las curiosas formas geométricas y el impacto dramático de las composiciones de Duccio di Buoninsegna y sus discípulos, que parecen desafiar los límites de la imaginación, dejan a Hisham misteriosamente prendado y suscitan en él un paradójico sentimiento de esperanza en el ser humano. Veinticinco años más tarde, como un creyente devoto que acude al epicentro de su culto, el autor visita por fin la ciudad donde se gestaron esas obras y se sumerge en su contemplación directa, en busca de una verdad que alumbre sus emociones más recónditas. Además de un recorrido esclarecedor por las manifestaciones pictóricas de los maestros sieneses de los siglos XIII, XIV y XV, Un mes en Siena es también un ejercicio profundamente conmovedor sobre la capacidad humana para sobreponerse al dolor y la desdicha. Con una prosa exquisita y medida, bellamente ilustrada y enriquecida con juicios certeros y elegantes, el autor nos invita a reflexionar sobre el valor del arte como instrumento para iluminar nuestro propio paisaje interior y ayudarnos a entender el mundo que nos rodea. La crítica ha dicho:«Todos deberíamos pasar un mes mirando cuadros con Hisham Matar.»Zadie Smith «Una deslumbrante exploración del impacto del arte en la vida y en la escritura, y una lúcida reflexión sobre el duelo.»The Financial Times «Un libro mesurado, frugal y, aun así, absolutamente imponente.»New Statesman «Fascinante, de gran poder evocativo.»The Economist «Un libro de estructura tan exquisita como El regreso, guiado por el deseo, el anhelo y el dolor, iluminado por la amabilidad de los extraños. Un triunfo.»Peter Carey «Una obra delicada y muy bella que cautiva con sus agudas observaciones sobre el arte y la arquitectura, la amistad y la pérdida.»The Guardian «Un texto lleno de pasajes reflexivos, imágenes maravillosas e interesantes observaciones sobre la cotidianidad.»NDR Kultur
Geronimo
by GeronimoEnter the world of Geronimo Stilton, where another funny adventure is always right around the corner. Each book is a fast-paced adventure with lively art and a unique format kids 7-10 will love. Ah, there's nothing like a relaxing vacation on the beach! I would spread out by the crystal-clear water with a good book. What more could a mouse want? At least, that was the plan. But somehow, my vacations never seem to go according to plan. Instead of a beautiful seaside resort, I found myself in a fleabag hotel that was falling down around my ears! Oh, would I ever be able to relax and enjoy my vacation??
Sir John Beverley Robinson: Bone and Sinew of the Compact
by Patrick BrodeJohn Beverley Robinson (1791-1863) was one of Upper Canada's foremost jurists, a dominating influence on the ruling élite, and a leading citizen of nineteenth-century Toronto who owned a vast tract of land on which Osgoode Hall now stands. The loyalists had founded a colony firm in its devotion to the Crown, with little room for dissent. As a true loyalist son, educated by John Strachan, Robinson attempted to steer Upper Canada toward emulation of what he perceived to be Britain's ideal aristocratic society. As a young ensign in the York militia, he defended his sovereign at Queenston Heights, and as acting attorney-general he prosecuted traitors who threatened to undermine the colony. Later, as attorney-general and de facto leader of the assembly during the 1820s, he tried to mould the government to the British form. But factors he never understood--the influence of American democracy and liberalism in the Colonial Office--ensured that Upper Canada would never be a 'new Albion. ' Robinson was appointed chief justice in 1829, and his judicial career spanned thirty-three years, during which he insisted the courts were subservient to the legislature and established precedents declaring their role should be limited to the enforcement of existing laws, with no independent creative function. His long service on the bench represented both a preservation and a strengthening of the British tradition in Canadian law. In this biography, early Toronto comes alive through the eyes of a powerful man--firm in his beliefs, attractive to women, respected by his fellows--who sought to mould society to his own ideals. For historians, lawyers, and students of jurisprudence who seek an understanding of the roots of legal practice in nineteenth-century Ontario, it is essential reading.
The Unexpurgated Beaton
by Hugo Vickers Cecil BeatonCecil Beaton was one of the great twentieth-century tastemakers. A photographer, artist, writer and designer for more than fifty years, he was at the center of the worlds of fashion, society, theater and film. The Unexpurgated Beaton brings together for the first time the never-before-published diaries from 1970 to 1980 and, unlike the six slim volumes of diaries published during his lifetime, these have been left uniquely unedited. Hugo Vickers, the executor of Beaton's estate and the author of his acclaimed biography, has added extensive and fascinating notes that are as lively as the diary entries themselves. As one London reviewer wrote, "Vickers' waspish footnotes are the salt on the side of the dish." Beaton treated his other published diaries like his photographs, endlessly retouching them, but, for this volume, Vickers went back to the original manuscripts to find the unedited diaries. Here is the photographer for British and American Vogue, designer of the sets and costumes for the play and film My Fair Lady and the film Gigi, with a cast of characters from many worlds: Bianca Jagger, Greta Garbo, David Hockney, Truman Capote, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Rose Kennedy and assorted Rothschilds, Phippses and Wrightsmans; in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, Rio and Greece, on the Amalfi coast; at shooting parties in the English countryside, on yachts, at garden parties at Buckingham Palace, at costume balls in Venice, Paris or London. Beaton had started as an outsider and "developed the power to observe, first with his nose pressed up against the glass," and then later from within inner circles. Vickers has said, "his eagle eye missed nothing," and his diaries are intuitive, malicious (he took a "relish in hating certain figures"), praising and awestruck. Truman Capote once said "the camera will never be invented that could capture or encompass all that he actually sees." The Unexpurgated Beaton is a book that is not only a great read and wicked fun but a timeless chronicle of our age.From the Hardcover edition.
Geronimo: My Life (Native American)
by Geronimo S. M. BarrettIn this, one of Native American history's most extraordinary documents, a legendary warrior and shaman recounts the beliefs and customs of his people. Completely and utterly authentic, its captivating narrator is the most famous member of the Apache tribe: Geronimo.The spiritual and intellectual leader of the American Indians who defended their land from both Mexico and the United States for many years, Geronimo surrendered in 1886. Two decades later, while under arrest, he told his story through a native interpreter to S. M. Barrett, an Oklahoma school superintendent. Barrett explains in his introduction, "I wrote to President Roosevelt that here was an old Indian who had been held a prisoner of war for twenty years and had never been given a chance to tell his side of the story, and asked that Geronimo be granted permission to tell for publication, in his own way, the story of his life."This remarkable testament is the result. It begins with Geronimo's retelling of an Apache creation myth and his descriptions of his youth and family. He explains his military tactics as well as traditional practices, including hunting and religious rituals, and reflects upon his hope for the survival of his people and their culture.
Scenes from the High Desert: Julian Steward's Life and Theory
by Virginia KernsJulian Steward (1902-72) is best remembered in American anthropology as the creator of cultural ecology, a theoretical approach that has influenced generations of archaeologists and cultural anthropologists. Virginia Kerns considers the intellectual and emotional influences of Steward's remarkable career, exploring his early life in the American West, his continued attachments to western landscapes and inhabitants, his research with Native Americans, and the writing of his classic work, Theory of Culture Change. With fluid prose and rich detail, the book captures the essence and breadth of Steward's career while carefully measuring the ways he reinforced the male-centered structure of mid-twentieth-century American anthropology.
The Story of My Life: With Her Letters (1887-1901) And A Supplementary Account Of Her Education, Including Passages From The Reports And Letters Of Her Teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, By John Albert Macy
by Helen KellerA classic of American autobiography—the remarkable story of Helen Keller&’s early life and education At nineteen months old, Helen Keller was stricken with a mysterious illness that left her deaf and blind. For the next five years, she was trapped in the silent dark, her only means of communication a few dozen rudimentary signs. Her inability to express herself was a great source of frustration, and as she grew older, Helen became prone to angry outbursts and fits of despair. Her family sought help, and in March of 1887, twenty-year-old Anne Sullivan arrived from the Perkins Institution for the Blind. One month later, teacher and student made the first of many incredible breakthroughs. By placing one of Helen&’s hands under cool running water and tracing the letters w-a-t-e-r on her other hand, Anne was able to convey the great mystery of language: that every object has a name. As Helen would later write in The Story of My Life, &“That living word awakened my soul.&” Covering the first twenty-two years of Helen Keller&’s life, from that miraculous moment at the water pump to her acceptance into Radcliffe College, The Story of My Life is one of the most beloved and inspiring autobiographies ever written. The basis for The Miracle Worker, the Tony Award–winning play and Academy Award–winning film, its heartening message has touched millions of lives and torn down countless barriers the world over. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller<P>An American classic rediscovered by each generation, The Story of My Life is Helen Keller's account of her triumph over deafness and blindness. Popularized by the stage play and movie The Miracle Worker, Keller's story has become a symbol of hope for people all over the world. <P>This book-published when Keller was only twenty-two-portrays the wild child who is locked in the dark and silent prison of her own body. With an extraordinary immediacy, Keller reveals her frustrations and rage, and takes the reader on the unforgettable journey of her education and breakthroughs into the world of communication. <P>From the moment Keller recognizes the word "water" when her teacher finger-spells the letters, we share her triumph as "that living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!" An unparalleled chronicle of courage, The Story of My Life remains startlingly fresh and vital more than a century after its first publication, a timeless testament to an indomitable will.
The Vanishing Velázquez: A 19th Century Bookseller's Obsession with a Lost Masterpiece
by Laura CummingFrom one of the world's most expert art critics, the incredible true story--part art history and part mystery--of a Velazquez portrait that went missing and the obsessed nineteenth-century bookseller determined to prove he had found it.When John Snare, a nineteenth-century provincial bookseller, traveled to a liquidation auction, he stumbled on a vivid portrait of King Charles I that defied any explanation. The Charles of the painting was young--too young to be king--and yet also too young to be painted by the Flemish painter to which the work was attributed. Snare had found something incredible--but what? His research brought him to Diego Velazquez, whose long-lost portrait of Prince Charles has eluded art experts for generations. Velazquez (1599-1660) was the official painter of the Madrid court, during the time the Spanish Empire teetered on the edge of collapse. When Prince Charles of England--a man wealthy enough to help turn Spain's fortunes--ventured to the court to propose a marriage with a Spanish princess, he allowed just a few hours to sit for his portrait. Snare believed only Velazquez could have met this challenge. But in making his theory public, Snare was ostracized, victim to aristocrats and critics who accused him of fraud, and forced to choose, like Velazquez himself, between art and family. A thrilling investigation into the complex meaning of authenticity and the unshakable determination that drives both artists and collectors of their work, The Vanishing Velazquez travels from extravagant Spanish courts in the 1700s to the gritty courtrooms and auction houses of nineteenth-century London and New York. But it is above all a tale of mystery and detection, of tragic mishaps and mistaken identities, of class, politics, snobbery, crime, and almost farcical accident. It is a magnificently crafted page-turner, a testimony to how and why great works of art can affect us to the point of obsession.
Beatrix Potter Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman
by Judy TaylorStarting with the publication of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902, Beatrix Potter went on to become one of the world's most successful children's authors. This illustrated biographical eBook takes the reader through the whole of her life, from her Victorian childhood in London to her final years farming in the Lake District. Regarded as a standard work on Beatrix Potter's life, this work has been updated regularly to include fresh material and previously unpublished photographs that have come to light as interest in Beatrix Potter continues to grow.
Black Maestro
by Joe DrapeIn Black Maestro, Joe Drape meticulously brings to life the drama, adventures, romances, and heartbreaks of an unlikely participant in the greatest historical events of the twentieth century. It is a breathtaking narrative that takes you from pastoral Kentucky to Mob-controlled Chicago, from the horse country of Poland to the chaos of Red Square, and from freewheeling Paris to the hard-luck American South of the Depression. It is also a story that returns Jimmy Winkfield to his rightful place as an original American hero. In 1919, at the age of thirty-seven, as Bolshevik cannon fire thundered above, the already epic life of Jimmy Winkfield turned into an odyssey. With a ragtag band of Russian nobility and Polish soldiers, the son of a black sharecropper from Chilesburg, Kentucky, was entrusted with saving more than 250 of the most royal but fragile thoroughbreds left in crumbling Csarist Russia. They trekked 1,100 miles from Odessa to Warsaw for nearly three months amid the bloodiest part of the Russian Revolution, surviving gunfire and starvation....
God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church
by Caroline FraserFrom Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Christian Scientist Caroline Fraser comes the first unvarnished account of one of America's most controversial and little-understood religious movements.Millions of Americans – from Lady Astor to Ginger Rogers to Watergate conspirator H. R. Haldeman – have been touched by the Church of Christ, Scientist. Founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, Christian Science was based on a belief that intense contemplation of the perfection of God can heal all ills – an extreme expression of the American faith in self-reliance. In this unflinching investigation, Caroline Fraser, herself raised in a Scientist household, shows how the Church transformed itself from a small, eccentric sect into a politically powerful and socially respectable religion, and explores the human cost of Christian Science's remarkable rise.Fraser examines the strange life and psychology of Mary Baker Eddy, who lived in dread of a kind of witchcraft she called Malicious Animal Magnetism. She takes us into the closed world of Eddy's followers, who refuse to acknowledge the existence of illness and death and reject modern medicine, even at the cost of their children's lives. She reveals just how Christian Science managed to gain extraordinary legal and Congressional sanction for its dubious practices and tracks its enormous influence on new-age beliefs and other modern healing cults.A passionate exposé of zealotry, God's Perfect Child tells one of the most dramatic and little-known stories in American religious history.
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March TappanThis early work by Eva March Tappan was originally published in 1903 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'In the Days of Queen Victoria' is a biography of Queen Victoria and details aspects of her school days, her coronation, and her family life. Eva March Tappan was born on 26th December 1854, in Blackstone, Massachusetts, United States. Tappan began her literary career writing about famous characters from history in works such as 'In the Days of William the Conqueror' (1901), and 'In the Days of Queen Elizabeth' (1902). She then developed an interest in children's books, writing her own and publishing collections of classic tales.
The Souls of Black Folk: With "The Talented Tenth" and "The Souls of White Folk"
by Donald B. Gibson W. E. Du Bois Monica E. ElbertDu Bois' 1903 collection of essays is a thoughtful, articulate exploration of the moral and intellectual issues surrounding the perception of blacks within American society.
Among Schoolchildren
by Tracy KidderThe Pulitzer Prize–winning author&’s classic, &“brilliantly illuminated&” account of education in America (TheNew York Times Book Review). Mrs. Zajac is feisty, funny, and tough. She likes to call herself an &“old-lady teacher.&” (She is thirty-four.) Around Kelly School, she is infamous for her discipline: &“She is mean, bro,&” says one of her students. But children love her, and so will the reader of this extraordinarily moving book by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of House and The Soul of a New Machine. Tracy Kidder spent nine months in Mrs. Zajac&’s fifth-grade classroom in a depressed area of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Living among the twenty schoolchildren and their indomitable teacher, he shared their joys, catastrophes, and small but essential triumphs. His resulting New York Times bestseller is a revelatory and remarkably poignant account of an inner-city school that &“erupts with passionate life,&” and a close-up examination of what is wrong—and right—with education in America (USA Today). &“More than a book about needy children and a valiant teacher; it is full of the author&’s genuine love, delight and celebration of the human condition. He has never used his talent so well.&” —The New York Times
The Solitary Summer (Virago Modern Classics #401)
by Elizabeth von ArnimI want to be alone for a whole summer, and get to the very dregs of life. I want to be as idle as I can, so that my soul may have time to grow. Nobody shall be invited to stay with me, and if anyone calls they will be told that I am out, or away, or sick . . . Wouldn't a whole lovely summer, quite alone, be delightful?'This delightful companion to the famous Elizabeth and her German Garden is a witty, lyrical account of a rejuvenating, solitary summer filled with books and Elizabeth's reflections on her beloved garden. Descriptions of magnificent larkspurs and burning nasturtiums give way to those of cooling forest walks. Yet the months aren't as solitary as she'd planned: there's still her husband to pacify and the April, May and June babies to amuse.
The Theory of the Leisure Class
by Thorstein VeblenThis scathing critique of America’s preoccupation with wealth and status in the Gilded Age continues to resonate more than a century after it was first published According to economist Thorstein Veblen, the leisure class produces nothing, contributes nothing, and creates nothing, yet exercises a peculiar control over American society. The shallowness of their interests—from fashion to sports to entertainment—endows the practice of “conspicuous consumption” with an undeserving air of respectability. Veblen deploys a razor sharp wit to expose the pretensions of the idle rich and their disastrous influence on the national character. From ruthless business practices to the plight of women in a male-dominated culture, The Theory of the Leisure Class tackles difficult subjects with sophisticated analysis and a vibrant literary style that influenced the work of authors including Edith Wharton, Henry James, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. A must-read for students of American history and anyone concerned about economic inequality, Veblen’s classic treatise is timelier today than ever. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.