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Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training
by Tom JokinenAt forty-four, Tom Jokinen decided to quit his job in order to become an apprentice undertaker, setting out to ask the questions: What is the right thing to do when someone dies? With the marketplace offering new options (go green, go anti-corporate, go Disney, be packed into an artificial reef and dropped in the Atlantic...), is there still room for tradition? In a year of adventures both hair-raising and hilarious, Jokinen finds a world that is radically changed since Jessica Mitford revised The American Way of Death, more surprising than Six Feet Under, and even funnier and more illuminating than Stiff. If Bill Bryson were to apprentice at a funeral home, searching for the meaning of life and death, you'd have Curtains.
Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training
by Tom Jokinen"Two rules for picking up a body at the hospital, known as a 'removal': (1) Make sure it's the right one. (2) Never stop for food on the way back to the funeral home, not even at a drive-thru. " Jokinen, now a radio producer and video journalist, tells of his apprenticeship, at age 44, in a small, family-owned funeral home. With gentle humor and compassion, he writes about the people he worked with, who have been in the industry all of their lives, as well as the many bereaved families he observed during his apprenticeship. Interwoven with accounts of his bumbling attempts to collect corpses, embalm them, and drive a hearse, are explorations of our culture's rapidly changing relationship with death and the dead. Particularly moving is a comparison of the latest consumer trends for funerals with the simple rituals of the Mennonites of the rural Midwest. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Curve & Flow: The Elegant Vision of L.A. Architect Paul R. Williams
by Andrea J. LoneyDiscover the remarkable story of an orphaned Black boy who grew up to become the groundbreaking architect to the stars, Paul R. Williams. A stunning nonfiction picture-book biography from the Caldecott Honor–winning author and NAACP Image Award–nominated artist.As an orphaned Black boy growing up in America in the early 1900s, Paul R. Williams became obsessed by the concept of "home." He not only dreamed of building his own home, he turned his dreams into drawings. Defying the odds and breaking down the wall of racism, Williams was able to curve around the obstacles in his way to become a world-renowned architect. He designed homes for the biggest celebrities of the day, such as Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, and created a number of buildings in Los Angeles that are now considered landmarks. From Andrea J. Loney, the author of the Caldecott Honor Book Double Bass Blues, and award-winning artist Keith Mallett comes a remarkable story of fortitude, hope, and positivity.
The Curve of Binding Energy: A Journey into the Awesome and Alarming World of Theodore B. Taylor
by John McPheeThis is a book about nuclear energy both for electric power production and for bombs. In particular, it focuses on the dangers of a single person or small group obtaining the materials (most likely from some part of the nuclear power production system) to produce a bomb. The level of worry about this possibility come mainly from a particular nuclear physicist, Ted Taylor. But the sources for this book range far and wide over both the history and people involved in both nuclear bomb making and nuclear power production.
The Curve of Time
by M. Wylie BlanchetThis is a biography and astonishing adventure story of a woman who, left a widow in 1927, packed her five children onto a 25-foot boat and cruised the coastal waters of British Columbia, summer after summer.Muriel Wylie Blanchet acted single-handedly as skipper, navigator, engineer and, of course, mum, as she saw her crew through encounters with tides, fog, storms, rapids, cougars and bears. She sharpened in her children a special interest in Haida culture and in nature itself. In this book, she left us with a sensitive and compelling account of their journeys.
Curveball: How I Discovered True Fulfillment After Chasing Fortune and Fame
by Barry Zito Robert NolandThe painfully honest and personal story of one of baseball&’s most intriguing players.In Curveball, Zito shares his story with honesty and transparency. The ups and the downs. The wins and losses. By sharing his experiences as a man who had everything except happiness, Zito offers readers a path through adversity and toward a life defined by true success.Despite achieving the kind of fame and fortune that most people only dream about, Barry Zito was plagued by both internal forces and external circumstances that robbed him of any sense of peace—until he finally found a purpose worth living for.Barry explores the twists and turns of his own journey, including:his dad&’s constant push and pursuit for excellence, which translated into a toxic father-son relationship,how achieving superstardom in the major leagues created crippling fear,the personal destruction brought on by fame and fortune,and the disastrous seasons with the San Francisco Giants, including being benched for the 2010 playoffs and World Series.Zito comes face-to-face with the destructiveness of his own ego—his need to be viewed as the best. He also comes face-to-face with God and with the truth that he was loved no matter what he achieved.
Curzon: Imperial Statesman
by David Gilmour"A Superb New Biography . . . A Tragic Story, Brilliantly Told." —Andrew Roberts, Literary ReviewGeorge Nathaniel Curzon's controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of his country's empire to the traumatized years following World War I. As viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and foreign secretary under King George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour's award-winning book—with a new foreword by the author—is a brilliant assessment of Curzon's character and achievements, offering a richly dramatic account of the infamous long vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, risky love affairs that complicated and enriched his life.Born into the ruling class of what was then the world's greatest power, Curzon was a fervent believer in British imperialism who spent his life proving he was fit for the task. Often seen as arrogant and tempestuous, he was loathed as much as he was adored, his work disparaged as much as it was admired. In Gilmour's well-rounded appraisal, Curzon emerges as a complex, tragic figure, a gifted leader who saw his imperial world overshadowed at the dawn of democracy.
Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander
by Kent Masterson BrownThis Civil War biography chronicles the life of the brave Union artillery officer who refused to retreat from Pickett&’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Lieutenant Alonzo Hereford Cushing may be the most famous lieutenant to be killed during the Civil War. Two years out of West Point, the young artillery officer commanded Battery A of the 4th US Artillery at Gettysburg. Despite severe wounds, Cushing defended his position at Cemetery Ridge against the fearsome Confederate infantry assault. The story of Cushing&’s heroic final moments were witnessed and recorded by a battlefield correspondent for The New York Times, who said &“the gallantry of this officer is beyond praise.&” In 2014, President Barak Obama awarded Cushing a posthumous Medal of Honor. In this biography, Kent Brown presents a lively narrative based on extensive research, including a cache of Cushing&’s letters.
Custer: The Making of a Young General
by Edward G. LongacreThe name George Armstrong Custer looms large in American history, specifically for his leadership in the American Indian Wars and unfortunate fall at the Battle of Little Bighorn. But before his time in the West, Custer began his career fighting for the Union in the Civil War. In Custer: The Making of a Young General, legendary Civil War historian Edward G. Longacre provides fascinating insight into this often-overlooked period in Custer's life. In 1863, under the patronage of General Alfred Pleasonton, commander of the Army of the Potomac's horsemen, a young but promising twenty-three-year-old Custer rose to the unprecedented rank of brigadier general and was placed in charge of the untried Michigan Calvary Brigade. Although over time Custer would bring out excellence in his charges, eventually leading the Wolverines to prominence, his first test came just days later at Hanover, then Hunterstown, and finally Gettysburg. In these campaigns and subsequent ones, Custer's reputation for surging ahead regardless of the odds (almost always with successful results that appeared to validate his calculating recklessness) was firmly established. More than just a history book, Custer: The Making of a Young General is a study of Custer's formative years, his character and personality; his attitudes toward leadership; his tactical preferences, especially for the mounted charge; his trademark brashness and fearlessness; his relations with his subordinates; and his attitudes toward the enemy with whom he clashed repeatedly in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Custer goes into greater depth and detail than any other study of Custer's Civil War career, while firmly refuting many of the myths and misconceptions regarding his personal life and military service. Fascinating and insightful, it belongs on the shelf of every history buff.
Custer
by Larry McmurtryIn this lavishly illustrated volume, Larry McMurtry, the greatest chronicler of the American West, tackles for the first time one of the paramount figures of Western and American history. On June 25, 1876, General George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry attacked a large Lakota Cheyenne village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. He lost not only the battle but his life--and the lives of his entire cavalry. "Custer's Last Stand" was a spectacular defeat that shocked the country and grew quickly into a legend that has reverberated in our national consciousness to this day. Pulitzer Prize winner Larry McMurtry has long been fascinated by the "Boy General" and his rightful place in history. In Custer, he delivers an expansive, agile, and clear-eyed reassessment of the iconic general's life and legacy--how the legend was born, the ways in which it evolved, what it has meant--told against the broad sweep of the American narrative. We see Custer in all his contradictions and complexity as the perpetually restless man with a difficult marriage, a hunger for glory, and an unwavering confidence in his abilities. McMurtry explores how the numerous controversies that grew out of the Little Bighorn combined with a perfect storm of technological developments--the railroad, the camera, and the telegraph--to fan the flames of his legend. He shows how Custer's wife, Libbie, worked for decades after his death to portray Major Marcus Reno as the cause of the disaster of the Little Bighorn, and how Buffalo Bill Cody, who ended his Wild West Show with a valiant reenactment of Custer's Last Stand, played a pivotal role in spreading Custer's notoriety. While Custer is first and foremost an enthralling story filled with larger-than-life characters--Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, William J. Fetterman, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud--McMurtry also argues that Little Bighorn should be seen as a monumental event in our nation's history. Like all great battles, its true meaning can be found in its impact on our politics and policy, and the epic defeat clearly signaled the end of the Indian Wars--and brought to a close the great narrative of western expansion. In Custer, Larry McMurtry delivers a magisterial portrait of a complicated, misunderstood man that not only irrevocably changes our long-standing conversation about Custer, but once again redefines our understanding of the American West.
Custer: The Controversial Lie of George Armstrong Custer
by Jeffry D. WertGeorge Armstrong Custer has been so heavily mythologized that the human being has been all but lost. Now, in the first complete biography in decades, Jeffry Wert reexamines the life of the famous soldier to give us Custer in all his colorful complexity. Although remembered today as the loser at Little Big Horn, Custer was the victor of many cavalry engagements in the Civil War. He played an important role in several battles in the Virginia theater of the war, including the Shenandoah campaign. Renowned for his fearlessness in battle, he was always in front of his troops, leading the charge. His men were fiercely loyal to him, and he was highly regarded by Sheridan and Grant as well. Some historians think he may have been the finest cavalry officer in the Union Army. But when he was assigned to the Indian wars on the Plains, life changed drastically for Custer. No longer was he in command of soldiers bound together by a cause they believed in. Discipline problems were rampant, and Custer's response to them earned him a court-martial. There were long lulls in the fighting, during which time Custer turned his attention elsewhere, often to his wife, Libbie Bacon Custer, to whom he was devoted. Their romance and marriage is a remarkable love story, told here in part through their personal correspondence. After Custer's death, Libbie would remain faithful to his memory until her own death nearly six decades later. Jeffry Wert carefully examines the events around the defeat at Little Big Horn, drawing on recent archeological findings and the latest scholarship. His evenhanded account of the dramatic battle puts Custer's performance, and that of his subordinates, in proper perspective. From beginning to end, this masterful biography peels off the layers of legend to reveal for us the real George Armstrong Custer.
The Custer Fight; Capt. Benteen’s Story Of The Battle
by E. A. Brininstool Captain Frederick W. BenteenFOR THE FIRST TIME since he testified before the Reno Court of Inquiry, at Chicago, in 1879, Capt. F. W. Benteen, senior captain of Custer's regiment, the famous 7th Cavalry, here relates the part he played in that most disastrous of Indian fights on American soil, over which more controversy has raged than over any other battle fought against the red man in the United States.Much of the account is from his own testimony at the Reno Inquiry; some of it is from the personal letters of Capt. Benteen, (in possession of the author). Certain charges were made against Major Marcus A. Reno and Capt. Benteen by Frederick Whittaker, Custer's biographer. At the last moment Whittaker withdrew his charges against Capt. Benteen. He also utterly failed to substantiate his charges against Major Reno, the verdict of the Court being that "there was nothing in his conduct which requires animadversion from the Court, and that in view of all the facts in evidence, no further proceedings are necessary in this case."No officer in the Civil War won a more brilliant record than Major Reno, he being brevetted by grades from a first lieutenant to a colonel ''for gallant and meritorious service." Later, he served as Assistant Instructor of Infantry Tactics at the U. S. Military Academy at West Point.The testimony at the Reno Inquiry revealed that both Capt. Benteen and Major Reno had done the best that could be done with what they had to do with, and that, but for their extraordinary heroism and bravery in the fight on the bluffs, following Custer's overwhelming defeat, four miles down the river, the troops under their charge would likewise have been wiped out.Students of the battle of the Little Big Horn will do well to carefully preserve this account of the Custer fight as related by Capt. Benteen.
Custer Survivor: The End Of The Myth, The Beginning Of A Legend
by John KosterCuster Survivor was the basis for History Channel's television documentary Custer's Last Stand about the one man in the Seventh Cavalry who escaped the annihilation at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It is the story of Sgt. Frank Finkel of "C" Company, who, stunned by the impact of a rifle barrel smashing his forehead, was carried off by his panic stricken horse. Drawn from Sioux observations, Dept. of Army documents and forensic evidence, this is the story of the one soldier who escaped death at Little Big Horn and the fascinating life story of the man who turned myth into legend.
Custerology: The Enduring Legacy of the Indian Wars and George Armstrong Custer
by Michael A. ElliottA look at Custer the man, and how the Battle of the Little Bighorn has been retold into history... over and over again. Who has rights to tell the ONE correct side? Is the white version "right", even if the Native American version - with the eyewitness - tells the whites have it wrong? Read about how the history is bring told today, what each version says... You decide - which is right?
Custer's Indian Battles
by Charles Francis BatesCOLONEL BATES for a number of years on an exhaustive biography of General Custer. This pamphlet, was prepared for circulation at the recent celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the tragedy on the Little Big Horn, is its forerunner.Charles Francis Bates, born December 25, 1862, in Monroe, Michigan, received a law degree from Columbia University in 1892. He served in the Spanish-American War and commanded Camp MacArthur in Waco, Texas during World War I. After twenty-four years of service, he retired with the rank of colonel and began practicing law in Bronxville, New York. His fascination with the life and career of George Armstrong Custer, inspired his collection of wide and varied research materials and resulted in the publication of several works, including Custer's Indian Battles (1936). He became friendly with Elizabeth Bacon Custer, General Custer's widow, and retired Brigadier General Edward S. Godfrey, a participant in the Little Big Horn Battle. These relationships resulted in a wealth of correspondence relating to Custer's life; Mrs. Custer and Brigadier General Godfrey even loaned and donated primary materials to Bates to assist in his work. Bates died in 1943, survived by his second wife, Mary George White Bates of Baltimore, their daughter Frances Bates, and Roger Wolcott Bates, the son of Bates and his first wife, Charlotte Augustus Wolcott Bates, who died in 1911.-Archives West.
Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America
by T. J. StilesWinner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for HistoryFrom the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes and a National Book Award, a brilliant biography of Gen. George Armstrong Custer that radically changes our view of the man and his turbulent times.In this magisterial biography, T. J. Stiles paints a portrait of Custer both deeply personal and sweeping in scope, proving how much of Custer's legacy has been ignored. He demolishes Custer's historical caricature, revealing a volatile, contradictory, intense person--capable yet insecure, intelligent yet bigoted, passionate yet self-destructive, a romantic individualist at odds with the institution of the military (he was court-martialed twice in six years). The key to understanding Custer, Stiles writes, is keeping in mind that he lived on a frontier in time. In the Civil War, the West, and many areas overlooked in previous biographies, Custer helped to create modern America, but he could never adapt to it. He freed countless slaves yet rejected new civil rights laws. He proved his heroism but missed the dark reality of war for so many others. A talented combat leader, he struggled as a manager in the West. He tried to make a fortune on Wall Street yet never connected with the new corporate economy. Native Americans fascinated him, but he could not see them as fully human. A popular writer, he remained apart from Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, and other rising intellectuals. During Custer's lifetime, Americans saw their world remade. His admirers saw him as the embodiment of the nation's gallant youth, of all that they were losing; his detractors despised him for resisting a more complex and promising future. Intimate, dramatic, and provocative, this biography captures the larger story of the changing nation in Custer's tumultuous marriage to his highly educated wife, Libbie; their complicated relationship with Eliza Brown, the forceful black woman who ran their household; as well as his battles and expeditions. It casts surprising new light on a near-mythic American figure, a man both widely known and little understood.From the Hardcover edition.
Cut: The True Story of an Abandoned, Abused Little Girl Who Was Desperate to Be Part of a Family
by Cathy GlassDawn was the first girl Cathy Glass ever fostered. A sweet and seemingly well balanced girl, Dawn's outward appearance masked a traumatic childhood so awful, that even she could not remember it. During the first night, Cathy awoke to see Dawn looming above Cathy's baby's cot, her eyes staring and blank. She sleepwalks--which Cathy learns is often a manifestation in disturbed children. It becomes a regular and frightening occurrence, and Cathy is horrified to find Dawn lighting a match whilst mumbling "It's not my fault" in her sleep one night. Cathy discovers Dawn is playing truant from school, and struggling to make friends. More worryingly she finds her room empty one night, and her pillow covered in blood. Dawn has been self-harming in order to release the pain of her past. When Dawn attempts suicide, Cathy realises that she needs more help than she can give. Dawn's mother eventually confides in her that Dawn was sent away to relatives in Ireland between the ages of 5 and 9, and came back very disturbed. She also sheds light on the reason for Dawn's fascination with matches and Cathy's baby. *SPOILER ALERT*SPOILER INFO FOLLOWS* Eventually Dawn is placed in a psychiatric home for children, and five years later she gets in touch with Cathy. She has been reconciled with her mother and is now training to become a teacher.
Cut and Run (Joe Hunter Novels Ser. #4)
by Matt HiltonJoe Hunter vs Luke Rickard, a killer who has stolen his identity and committed a vicious double murder. His motive? Revenge. His method? A blade. His mission? Kill anyone Hunter holds dear. It is a deadly duel of wits that takes Hunter from the streets of Miami to the squalid barrios of Colombia to the jungle hideaway of a drug baron. And brings him face to face with his past. Revenge is a dish best served cold and Joe needs a cool head if Rickard is not to cut and run. CUT AND RUN - the fourth high-octane adventure for Joe Hunter, the man whose mission is to rid the world of bad guys.
Cut and Run (Joe Hunter)
by Matt HiltonJoe Hunter vs Luke Rickard, a killer who has stolen his identity and committed a vicious double murder. His motive? Revenge. His method? A blade. His mission? Kill anyone Hunter holds dear. It is a deadly duel of wits that takes Hunter from the streets of Miami to the squalid barrios of Colombia to the jungle hideaway of a drug baron. And brings him face to face with his past. Revenge is a dish best served cold and Joe needs a cool head if Rickard is not to cut and run. CUT AND RUN - the fourth high-octane adventure for Joe Hunter, the man whose mission is to rid the world of bad guys.
Cut Me Loose
by Leah VincentIn the vein of Prozac Nation and Girl, Interrupted, an electrifying memoir about a young woman's promiscuous and self-destructive spiral after being cast out of her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, a fundamentalist sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. As the daughter of an influential rabbi, Leah and her ten siblings were raised to worship two things: God and the men who ruled their world. But the tradition-bound future Leah envisioned for herself was cut short when, at sixteen, she was caught exchanging letters with a male friend, a violation of religious law that forbids contact between members of the opposite sex. Leah's parents were unforgiving. Afraid, in part, that her behavior would affect the marriage prospects of their other children, they put her on a plane and cut off ties. Cast out in New York City, without a father or husband tethering her to the Orthodox community, Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. She spent the next few years using her sexuality as a way of attracting the male approval she had been conditioned to seek out as a child, while becoming increasingly unfaithful to the religious dogma of her past. Fast-paced, mesmerizing, and brutally honest, Cut Me Loose tells the story of one woman's harrowing struggle to define herself as an individual. Through Leah's eyes, we confront not only the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism, but also the broader issues that face even the most secular young women as they grapple with sexuality and identity.
Cut Me Loose
by Leah VincentIn the vein of Prozac Nation and Girl, Interrupted, an electrifying memoir about a young woman's promiscuous and self-destructive spiral after being cast out of her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family Leah Vincent was born into the Yeshivish community, a fundamentalist sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. As the daughter of an influential rabbi, Leah and her ten siblings were raised to worship two things: God and the men who ruled their world. But the tradition-bound future Leah envisioned for herself was cut short when, at sixteen, she was caught exchanging letters with a male friend, a violation of religious law that forbids contact between members of the opposite sex. Leah's parents were unforgiving. Afraid, in part, that her behavior would affect the marriage prospects of their other children, they put her on a plane and cut off ties. Cast out in New York City, without a father or husband tethering her to the Orthodox community, Leah was unprepared to navigate the freedoms of secular life. She spent the next few years using her sexuality as a way of attracting the male approval she had been conditioned to seek out as a child, while becoming increasingly unfaithful to the religious dogma of her past. Fast-paced, mesmerizing, and brutally honest, Cut Me Loose tells the story of one woman's harrowing struggle to define herself as an individual. Through Leah's eyes, we confront not only the oppressive world of religious fundamentalism, but also the broader issues that face even the most secular young women as they grapple with sexuality and identity.
The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found
by Bart Van EsThe extraordinary true story of a young Jewish girl in Holland under Nazi occupation who finds refuge in the homes of an underground network of foster families, one of them the author's grandparentsBart van Es left Holland for England many years ago, but one story from his Dutch childhood never left him. It was a mystery of sorts: a young Jewish girl named Lientje had been taken in during the war by relatives and hidden from the Nazis, handed over by her parents, who understood the danger they were in all too well. The girl had been raised by her foster family as one of their own, but then, well after the war, there was a falling out, and they were no longer in touch. What was the girl's side of the story, Bart wondered? What really happened during the war, and after?So began an investigation that would consume Bart van Es's life, and change it. After some sleuthing, he learned that Lientje was now in her 80s and living in Amsterdam. Somewhat reluctantly, she agreed to meet him, and eventually they struck up a remarkable friendship, even a partnership. The Cut Out Girl braids together a powerful recreation of that intensely harrowing childhood story of Lientje's with the present-day account of Bart's efforts to piece that story together, including bringing some old ghosts back into the light. It is a story rich with contradictions. There is great bravery and generosity--first Lientje's parents, giving up their beloved daughter, and then the Dutch families who face great danger from the Nazi occupation for taking Lientje and other Jewish children in. And there are more mundane sacrifices a family under brutal occupation must make to provide for even the family they already have. But tidy Holland also must face a darker truth, namely that it was more cooperative in rounding up its Jews for the Nazis than any other Western European country; that is part of Lientje's story too. Her time in hiding was made much more terrifying by the energetic efforts of the local Dutch authorities, zealous accomplices in the mission of sending every Jew, man, woman and child, East to their extermination. And Lientje was not always particularly well treated, and sometimes, Bart learned, she was very badly treated indeed. The Cut Out Girl is an astonishment, a deeply moving reckoning with a young girl's struggle for survival during war, a story about the powerful love of foster families but also the powerful challenges, and about the ways our most painful experiences define us but also can be redefined, on a more honest level, even many years after the fact. A triumph of subtlety, decency and unflinching observation, The Cut Out Girl is a triumphant marriage of many keys of writing, ultimately blending them into an extraordinary new harmony, and a deeper truth.
Cut, Stapled, and Mended
by Roanna Rosewood"At least you and the baby are healthy."That's what they said when they handed him to me. And they were right. Why then, so long after my body has healed, do I still feel broken? A whisper inside of me insists: Birth is more than a means to a baby. There was something I was supposed to do, something I was to receive through giving birth.Pregnant again, when the doctor tries to schedule another cesarean, I refuse. I will not submit to being tied down, cut open, and having my uterus extracted again without a fight.That's why I ask a midwife to help me give birth. I tell her that I'm determined and strong. But she sees through my tough-guy armor. She smiles, saying, "Birth isn't a battle to win or lose. It's the result of delving into your vulnerability and finding your true feminine power."In exquisite detail, Roanna holds nothing back in her powerful birth memoir, plunging the reader deep into the intimacy of this universal rite of passage. Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a must read for anyone who has given birth, will give birth, or who loves someone who will give birth.
Cut, Stapled, and Mended
by Roanna Rosewood"At least you and the baby are healthy."That's what they said when they handed him to me. And they were right. Why then, so long after my body has healed, do I still feel broken? A whisper inside of me insists: Birth is more than a means to a baby. There was something I was supposed to do, something I was to receive through giving birth.Pregnant again, when the doctor tries to schedule another cesarean, I refuse. I will not submit to being tied down, cut open, and having my uterus extracted again without a fight.That's why I ask a midwife to help me give birth. I tell her that I'm determined and strong. But she sees through my tough-guy armor. She smiles, saying, "Birth isn't a battle to win or lose. It's the result of delving into your vulnerability and finding your true feminine power."In exquisite detail, Roanna holds nothing back in her powerful birth memoir, plunging the reader deep into the intimacy of this universal rite of passage. Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a must read for anyone who has given birth, will give birth, or who loves someone who will give birth.
Cut-Throat: The Vicious World of Rod McLean - Mercenary, Gun-Runner and International Drug Baron
by Wayne ThallonFact is often stranger than fiction, and when Rod McLean, an escaped drug baron and alleged MI6 agent, was mysteriously found dead in a London flat after two months on the run, even Hollywood couldn't have scripted it better.McLean had only served seven years of his twenty-eight-year sentence he received following a 1996 sting operation off the Caithness coast in which a Customs officer lost his life. Despite being described as one of the most ruthless and important figures on the country's drug scene, McLean had found his security status downgraded from Category A to D and had been transferred to HMP Leyhill, an open prison which had seen 82 prisoners escape in 2002 alone. Shortly after the media had accused the security services of helping him to escape, McLean was found – dead. But not only did it take the Metropolitan Police 29 days to make the news public, it also took them that long to inform Avon and Somerset - the very police force who were still trying to recapture him. Why? Who was McLean and what made him so important? So important, in fact, that the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, had been compelled to order a report into his disappearance, much of which remains secret to this day. Cut-Throat is a truly unique account of Rod McLean's life and death, told in the first person using material from McLean's own hand. Whether as a mercenary in the Congo, an armed robber in Newcastle or as an international drug-smuggler and gun-runner who operated where few others have dared, McLean will take you through his life as he struggles against the darkest realms of humanity and himself until the very end, an end which overshadows the greatest secret of all – not of how he died, but of how he lived.