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Mercator: The Man who Mapped the Planet
by Nicholas CraneA biography of the genius who mapped the world and for ever changed the face of the planet - by a bestselling author.Gerard Mercator (1512-1594) was born at the dawn of the Age of Discovery, when the world was beginning to be discovered and carved up by navigators, geographers and cartographers. Mercator was the greatest and most ingenious cartographer of them all: it was he who coined the word 'atlas' and solved the riddle of converting the three-dimensional globe into a two-dimensional map while retaining true compass bearings. It is Mercator's Projection that NASA are using today to map Mars. How did Mercator reconcile his religious beliefs with a science that would make Christian maps obsolete? How did a man whose imagination roamed continents endure imprisonment by the Inquisition? Crane brings this great man vividly to life, underlying it with colour illustrations of the maps themselves: maps that brought to a rapt public wonders as remarkable as today's cyber-world.
Mercedes Sosa, La Negra (Edición definitiva)
by Rodolfo BraceliLa negra Mercedes Sosa canta su biografía. A los 67, en el 2003, decidiócontar su vida. Como no quiso simularse escritora, la suya es unabiografía en voz alta. «Mercedes Sosa. La Negra» es la edición definitiva de la única biografíaque se realizó con su palabra viva. Es así como, para un personajecomplejo y atípico, Rodolfo Braceli eligió un camino inusual. Todo subagaje de escritor, periodista, dramaturgo y poeta lo despliega en esteoriginal libro desde y sobre Mercedes Sosa. Por un lado, el relato de lasuprema cantante-cantora es la columna vertebral. Por otro, emergenvoces: la de su madre y hermanos, la de su hijo y amigos.Cada tanto aparecen, con sus recuerdos, figuras como León Gieco, HoracioMolina, Víctor Heredia, Liliana Herrero, Carlos Alonso y Charly García.Ellos completan el retrato de la otra Mercedes, la que estaba lejos delas ovaciones y muy cerca de la gente.No es todo: a la voz, por momentos en carne viva de la protagonista, sesuma en el montaje el relato de episodios dramáticos y memorables quemarcaron su vida y su carrera. Este libro que empezó a gestarse hacecasi medio siglo incluye infancia, adolescencia, despertar artístico,amores y desamores, ideología, amenazas de muerte, censura y exilio,glorioso retorno en el 82, consagración mundial, enfermedad conapetencia de suicidio en el 97, testamento. Como escribió LilianaHerrero: «Estamos ante una confesión pasional, pero también ante undocumento extraordinario. Ante un libro político y también profundamenteíntimo, público y privado, indispensable para contar la historiacultural de este país».
Mercedes Sosa, la Negra
by Rodolfo Braceli"Mercedes Sosa no quiso hacer como que escribía sus memorias valiéndose de un escritor fantasma. No quiso mandarse la parte ni simular. Ésta es una biografía escrita en voz alta. Había que contar esa trayectoria, más el trasfondo de una vida personal que nació en la ardua pobreza acechada por el hambre, y que después estuvo enmarcada por el compromiso ideológico, las amenazas de muerte, el exilio. La paradoja de esta vida es que, a más desgarramiento y dolor en lo personal y afectivo, más éxito, más ovaciones en lo artístico, más fama. Me enfrenté con el problema de la abundancia, que a veces no es menos terrible que el de la escasez. Tuve que resolver cómo contar la prodigiosa vida de esta mujer que es (con Carlos Gardel), sin discusión, la cantante popular de mayor prestigio y proyección mundial que produjo la Argentina."
Mercedes Sosa: La voz del pueblo
by Aixa Pérez-PradoUna conmovedora biografía ilustrada de una de las cantantes y defensoras de derechos humanos más queridas de América Latina, Mercedes Sosa. A stirring picture book biography of one of Latin America's most beloved singers and human rights advocates, Mercedes Sosa.¿Alguna vez has oído una canción que te elevó a lo más alto? ¿Una canción que capturó tu corazón? ¿Una voz tan poderosa que te hizo sentir listo para cambiar el mundo? Esta es la historia de una cantora cuya voz navegó por el aire como las alas de un cóndor, inspirando al pueblo en cada latido de la tierra. Escrita e ilustrada por Aixa Pérez-Prado, esta es la conmovedora historia de la cantante folklórica y defensora de derechos humanos argentina Mercedes Sosa. Conocida cariñosamente como la Negra, Mercedes utilizó su talento musical y su poderosa voz para denunciar la pobreza y la desigualdad en su país. Ante una cruel dictadura, Mercedes se negó a ser silenciada. Con valentía subió al escenario para "dar voz a los que no tienen voz" con canciones edificantes de empatía y empoderamiento. Su música inolvidable y sus mensajes de esperanza continúan resonando en personas de todo el mundo hasta el día de hoy. Written and illustrated by Aixa Pérez-Prado, this is the powerful biography of Argentinean folksinger and human rights advocate Mercedes Sosa. Affectionately known as La Negra, Mercedes used her musical talents and powerful voice to speak out against poverty and inequality in her home country. In the face of a cruel dictatorship, Mercedes refused to be silenced. She bravely stepped on stage to lend a "voice to the voiceless" with uplifting songs of empathy and empowerment. Her unforgettable music and messages of hope continue to resonate with people across the world to this day.
Mercedes Sosa: Voice of the People
by Aixa Pérez-PradoA stirring picture book biography of one of Latin America's most beloved singers and human rights advocates, Mercedes Sosa.Have you ever heard a song that made your heart soar? A canción that captured your corazón? A voice so powerful that it made you feel ready to change the world? This is the story of a singer whose voice sailed through the air like the wings of a condor, inspiring people everywhere. Written and illustrated by Aixa Pérez-Prado, this is the powerful biography of Argentinean folksinger and human rights advocate Mercedes Sosa. Affectionately known as La Negra, Mercedes used her musical talents and powerful voice to speak out against poverty and inequality in her home country. In the face of a cruel dictatorship, Mercedes refused to be silenced. She bravely stepped on stage to lend a "voice to the voiceless" with uplifting songs of empathy and empowerment. Her unforgettable music and messages of hope continue to resonate with people across the world to this day.
Merchant-Ivory: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Laurence RawMerchant-Ivory: Interviews gathers together, for the first time, interviews made over a span of fifty years with director James Ivory (b. 1928), producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005), and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013). Beginning with their earliest work in India, and ending with James Ivory's last film, The City of Your Final Destination (2009), the book traces their career, while offering valuable insights into their creative filmmaking process. The volume serves as a corrective to the prevailing critical orthodoxy attached to Merchant-Ivory's work, which tends to regard them as being solely concerned with historically accurate costumes and settings. As independent filmmakers, they have developed an idiosyncratic approach that resists facile classification. Merchant-Ivory have insisted on maintaining their independence. More importantly, this book shows how Merchant-Ivory have always taken considerable care in casting their films, as well as treating actors with respect. This is a deliberate policy, designed to bring out one of the triumvirate's principal thematic concerns, running throughout their work—the impact of the “clash of cultures” on individuals. Partly this has been inspired by their collective experiences of living and working in different cultures. They do not offer any answers to this issue; rather they believe that their task is simply to raise awareness; to make filmgoers conscious of the importance of cultural sensitivities that assume paramount significance in any exchange, whether verbal or nonverbal.
Merchants, Landlords, Magistrates: The Depont Family in Eighteenth-Century France
by Robert ForsterOriginally published in 1980. A social historian of modern France, Robert Forster discovered a series of father-to-son letters that presented an unusual opportunity to trace in human terms the impact of institutions and cultural norms on eighteenth-century French society. From these letters and other family papers, Forster reconstructed a family biography of the Deponts of La Rochelle over four generations. Their story affords new insights into the workings of institutions—economic, religious, legal, administrative—the mentality of provincial notables, the world of Parisian high finance and salon society, and the response of a socially mobile family to the challenges of the century, climaxing in the French Revolution of 1789. Forster demonstrates how real people in an upwardly mobile family coped with their changing society, moved from overseas trade to local and then national office, managed their wealth, treated their children, and then parried the psychological shocks accompanying their ascent to status and power. It is the story not of a "class" response to abstract trends or forces identified by the historian in retrospect but of flesh-and-blood human beings grappling with day-to-day decisions and revealing a full range of human ambiguity and inconsistency. This study offers perspective on the emergence by 1800 of a new elite in France—a social amalgam of landlords, administrators, and professional men, inculcated with a national awareness and a cautious political liberalism. These were the notables who would govern France in the next century. Forster's approach, uncommon among social historians, combines narrative and analytical modes of historiography. Based on archival materials in La Rochelle and Paris, the book blends economic, social, cultural, and political history.
Mercies in Disguise: A Story of Hope, a Family's Genetic Destiny, and the Science That Rescued Them
by Gina Kolata"[Kolata] is a gifted storyteller. Her account of the Baxleys... is both engrossing and distressing... Kolata's book raises crucial questions about knowledge that can be both vital and fatal, both pallative and dangerous." —Andrew Solomon, The New York Review of BooksNew York Times science reporter Gina Kolata follows a family through genetic illness and one courageous daughter who decides her fate shall no longer be decided by a genetic flaw.The phone rings. The doctor from California is on the line. “Are you ready Amanda?” The two people Amanda Baxley loves the most had begged her not to be tested—at least, not now. But she had to find out.If your family carried a mutated gene that foretold a brutal illness and you were offered the chance to find out if you’d inherited it, would you do it? Would you walk toward the problem, bravely accepting whatever answer came your way? Or would you avoid the potential bad news as long as possible? In Mercies in Disguise, acclaimed New York Times science reporter and bestselling author Gina Kolata tells the story of the Baxleys, an almost archetypal family in a small town in South Carolina. A proud and determined clan, many of them doctors, they are struck one by one with an inscrutable illness. They finally discover the cause of the disease after a remarkable sequence of events that many saw as providential. Meanwhile, science, progressing for a half a century along a parallel track, had handed the Baxleys a resolution—not a cure, but a blood test that would reveal who had the gene for the disease and who did not. And science would offer another dilemma—fertility specialists had created a way to spare the children through an expensive process. A work of narrative nonfiction, Mercies in Disguise is the story of a family that took matters into its own hands when the medical world abandoned them. It’s a story of a family that had to deal with unspeakable tragedy and yet did not allow it to tear them apart. And it is the story of a young woman—Amanda Baxley—who faced the future head on, determined to find a way to disrupt her family’s destiny.
Mercosur: Nacimiento, vida y decadencia
by Luis Alberto Lacalle- El Mercosur ha sido, desde sus inicios, objeto de múltiples debates y confrontaciones. ¿Se trata de una herramienta útil? ¿Aporta al desarrollo de los países que lo integran, o limita sus posibilidades de vincularse con el resto del mundo? ¿Debe tener una orientación económica o política? ¿Cómo se resuelven las asimetrías entre los países grandes y los pequeños? El Dr. Luis Alberto Lacalle Herrera, protagonista del proceso gestacional del Mercosur y sus primeros años de desarrollo, aporta su mirada lúcida e incisiva a este debate de profunda vigencia e importancia. Con una prosa que discurre con agilidad, y que no rehúye al compromiso con las propias convicciones y a la mención de los momentos difíciles del proceso, estas páginas se convierten en un aporte para comprender los procesos internos que marcaron la historia de este proyecto de integración regional. Este libro es un aporte fundamental para comprender los vaivenes que han atravesado los países en torno al Mercosur, y su reflexión se orienta hacia el desarrollo de la región, de cara al futuro.
Mercs True Stories of Mercenaries in Action
by Bill FawcettRanging from ancient times to the Vietnam War to the drug wars of modern-day Central and South America, this collection of true-life accounts chronicles the experiences and exploits of professional soldiers of fortune.
Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy, And The New Battleground Of The Cold War
by Jeff ShesolOne of the Washington Post's 20 Books to Read This Summer A riveting history of the epic orbital flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn’t catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War—a perilous time when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the United States to every major milestone in space. The race to the heavens seemed a race for survival—and America was losing. On February 20, 1962, when John Glenn blasted into orbit aboard Friendship 7, his mission was not only to circle the planet; it was to calm the fears of the free world and renew America’s sense of self-belief. Mercury Rising re-creates the tension and excitement of a flight that shifted the momentum of the space race and put the United States on the path to the moon. Drawing on new archival sources, personal interviews, and previously unpublished notes by Glenn himself, Mercury Rising reveals how the astronaut’s heroics lifted the nation’s hopes in what Kennedy called the "hour of maximum danger."
Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury
by Lesley-Ann JonesA REVEALING, INTIMATE LOOK AT THE MAN WHO WOULD BE QUEEN As lead vocalist for the iconic rock band Queen, Freddie Mercury's unmatched skills as a songwriter and his flamboyant showmanship made him a superstar and Queen a household name. But despite his worldwide fame, few people ever really glimpsed the man behind the glittering façade. Now, more than twenty years after his death, those closest to Mercury are finally opening up about this pivotal figure in rock 'n' roll. Based on more than a hundred interviews with key figures in his life, Mercury offers the definitive account of one man's legendary life in the spotlight and behind the scenes. Rock journalist Lesley-Ann Jones gained unprecedented access to Mercury's tribe, and she details Queen's slow but steady rise to fame and Mercury's descent into dangerous, pleasure-seeking excesses-- this was, after all, a man who once declared, "Darling, I'm doing everything with everyone." In her journey to understand Mercury, Jones traveled to London, Zanzibar, and India--talking with everyone from Mercury's closest friends to the sound engineer at Band Aid (who was responsible for making Queen even louder than the other bands) to second cousins halfway around the world. In the process, an intimate and complicated portrait emerges. Meticulously researched, sympathetic yet not sensational, Mercury offers an unvarnished look at the extreme highs and lows of life in the fast lane. At the heart of this story is a man . . . and the music he loved.
Mercy Otis Warren: A Woman of the Revolution
by Eric OatmanFifth grade reading series. A book about Mercy Otis Warren.
Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye
by Michael Eric DysonThe best-selling Motown artist of all time, Marvin Gaye defined the hopes and shattered dreams of an entire generation. Twenty years after his tragic death-he was shot by his father-his relevance persists because of the indelible mark his outsized talent left on American culture. A transcendent performer whose career spanned the history of rhythm and blues, from doo-wop to the sultriest of soul music, Gaye's artistic scope and emotional range set the soundtrack for America's tumultuous coming of age in the 1970s. Michael Eric Dyson's searching narrative illuminates Marvin Gaye's stellar ascendance-from a black church in Washington, D. C. , to the artistic peak of What's Going On?-and charts his sobering personal decline. Dyson draws from interviews with those closest to Gaye to paint an intimate portrait of the tensions and themes that shaped contemporary urban America: racism, drug abuse, economic adversity, and the long legacy of hardship. Gaye's stormy relationships with women, including duet partner Tammi Terrell and wives Anna Gordy and Janis Hunter, are examined in light of the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. Dyson also considers family violence in the larger context of the African-American life and how that heartbreaking legacy resulted in Gaye's murder. Mercy, Mercy, Me is an unforgettable portrait of a beloved black genius whose art is reflected in the dynamism of contemporary urban America.
Mercy: The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh, Founder of the ASPCA and Friend to Animals
by Nancy Furstinger Vincent DesjardinsOnly 150 years ago, most animals in America were subject to horrific treatment. They needed a champion to protect them from abject cruelty, and that person was Henry Bergh. After witnessing the beating of a horse in the streets of New York and attending a bullfight in Spain, Bergh found his calling. He became an enforcer of animal rights and founded the ASPCA, as well as created many animal cruelty laws. He even expanded his advocacy to children. When Bergh died in 1888, the idea that children and animals should be protected from cruelty was widely accepted: "Mercy to animals means mercy to mankind."
Mere Anarchy
by Woody Allen'I am greatly relieved that the universe is finally explainable. I was beginning to think it was me. ' Thus begins 'Strung Out', Woody Allen's hilarious application of the laws of the universe to daily life. MERE ANARCHY, Woody Allen's first new collection in 25 years, features eighteen witty, wild and intelligent comic pieces – nine of which have never been in print before. Surreal, absurd, rich in verbal play, bitingly satirical and just plain daft, this collection includes tales of a body double - mistaken for the film's star - kidnapped by outlaws; a pretentious writer forced to work on the novelisation of a Three Stooges film; a nanny secretly writing an expose of her Manhattan employers; crooks selling bespoke prayers on ebay; and how to react when you're asked to finance a Broadway play about the invention and manufacture of the adjustable showerhead. Laced with his unique brand of humour and reminiscent of some of his finest films, MERE ANARCHY is an essential collection of tales by the inimitable Woody Allen.
Meredith: Our Daughter's Murder and the Heartbreaking Quest for the Truth
by John KercherMeredith Kercher was tragically murdered in November 2007, in Perugia, Italy. Since then, her murder and the subsequent trial have been a source of constant intrigue and media speculation all around the world, with the spotlight famously focusing on the accused, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Now, Meredith's father John speaks out for the first time and tells the world about the beautiful daughter he and his family so tragically lost.This book is a celebration of Meredith's life. It is also a father's story of losing a beloved daughter, and the first account of the torment the family have suffered and their ongoing quest for justice.
Meredith: Our daughter's murder and the heartbreaking quest for the truth
by John KercherMeredith Kercher was tragically murdered in November 2007, in Perugia, Italy. Since then, her murder and the subsequent trial have been a source of constant intrigue and media speculation all around the world, with the spotlight famously focusing on the accused, Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito. Now, Meredith's father John speaks out for the first time and tells the world about the beautiful daughter he and his family so tragically lost.This book is a celebration of Meredith's life. It is also a father's story of losing a beloved daughter, and the first account of the torment the family have suffered and their ongoing quest for justice.
Mergers and Acquisitions: Or, Everything I Know About Love I Learned on the Wedding Pages
by Cate DotyA compulsively readable behind-the-scenes memoir that takes readers inside the weddings section of The New York Times--the good, bad, and just plain weird--through the eyes of a young reporter just as she's falling in love herself.Growing up in the south, where tradition reigns supreme, Cate Doty thought about weddings . . . a lot. She catered for them, she attended many, she imagined her own. So, when she moved to New York City in pursuit of love--and to write for The New York Times--she finds her natural home in the wedding section, a first step to her own happily-ever-after, surely. Soon Cate is thrown into the cutthroat world of the metropolitan society pages, experiencing the lengths couples go to have their announcements accepted and the lengths the writers go in fact-checking their stories; the surprising, status-signaling details that matter most to brides and grooms; and the politics of the paper at a time of vast cultural and industry changes.Reporting weekly on couples whose relationships seem enviable--or eye-roll worthy--and dealing with WASPy grandparents and last-minute snafus, Cate is surrounded by love, or what we're told to believe is love. But when she starts to take the leap herself, she begins to ask her own questions about what it means to truly commit...Warm, witty, and keenly observed, Mergers and Acquisitions is an enthralling dive into one of society's most esteemed institutions, its creators and subjects, and a young woman's coming-of-age.
Merivel: A Novel
by Rose TremainMerivel is an unforgettable hero—soulful, funny, outrageous and achingly sad. His unmistakable, self-mocking voice speaks directly to us down the centuries.From the Orange Prize–winning author Rose Tremain comes a brilliant and picaresque novel of seventeenth-century England. In the wake of the gaudy years of the Restoration, Robert Merivel, physician and courtier to Charles II, faces the agitations and anxieties of middle age. Questions crowd his mind: has he been a good father? Is he a fair master? Is he the King’s friend or the King’s slave? In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court of Versailles, where—inevitably—misadventures ensue.
Meriwether Lewis: Boy Explorer (Childhood of Famous Americans Series)
by Charlotta M. Bebenroth"Meriwether Lewis: Boy Explorer" focuses on the early life of the intrepid pioneer. This fictionalized book shows where he got his strength, his courage, and his spirit of adventure.
Meriwether Lewis: Off the Edge of the Map (Heroes of History)
by Janet Hazel Benge Geoffrey Francis BengeA biography of the co-leader of the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark expedition into the unmapped American West, including his early life and the formation of the Corps of Discovery.
Meriwether: A Novel of Meriwether Lewis and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (The American Story)
by David NevinMeriwether is a young man of genius, power , drive, and single-minded determination to make one of the greatest marches in the world history--to chart the two thousand uncharted miles from the Mississippi to the Missouri to the mysterious Stoney Mountains, then down Colombia to the Pacific.But President Thomas Jefferson has other plans for the young Meriwether Lewis. It is 1800, and Jefferson calls upon Lewis to be his secretary, ignoring Lewis' request for expedition. The job, though a necessary duty, frustrates Lewis, whose mind is transfixed on his destiny to cross the continent.Freed at last, Lewis calls upon his friend, William Clark to set out on a cross continental trek that will give them towering stature among explorers and assure that the young nation will have its shores washed by opposite oceans.It is a dangerous expedition, as the unexplored territories are filled with huge grizzlies and wild waters, hostile Indians and they will lose their way. They will also be blessed by Sacagawa, the Indian woman whose skill and insight will guide them and in many cases save them. Until they reach the Oregon Country, where the breakers roll unbroken from China.But for all Lewis' fortitude and genius, the man who made the impossible possible has touched the heights of his life and now steps towards his darkling future.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Merkel's Law: Wisdom from the Woman Who Led the Free World
by Melissa EddyIn the vein of Notorious RBG, a fun and inspiring biography filled with lessons from the most powerful woman in the world, based on more than a decade&’s worth of coverage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel from New York Times Berlin correspondent Melissa Eddy.Angela Merkel is a boss. A trailblazer. An icon of colorful suits. Formerly the new leader of the free world. With an entire hand gesture named after her (the &“Merkel Diamond&”) and celebrated in a viral meme for sparring with Trump, Angela Merkel spent a decade economically and politically revitalizing her country. The first woman chancellor of Germany and one of the longest-serving European leaders ever, Merkel&’s quiet resolve, calculated confidence, and extreme privacy around her personal life have made her a feminist role model for the ages. Merkel&’s Law is a revelatory look at an unlikely vanguard, and at the country she led for sixteen years. No one is better positioned than New York Times Berlin correspondent Melissa Eddy to pull back the curtain on the woman who engineered Germany&’s rise to wealth, power, and an economy worth 3.8 trillion in USD. Drawing upon an unparalleled well of sources close to Merkel, Merkel&’s Law traces her childhood in East Germany as the daughter of a clergyman, her meteoric rise to power, and her more recent public acclaim—as well as the numerous setbacks she faced along the way both from political rivals and from men in her own party who scoffed at her ambition. Painting a portrait of a political genius, savvy businesswoman, and model for modern power, Merkel&’s Law is not only the story of her life, but the lessons we can learn from it.
Merle Haggard: The Running Kind
by David CantwellMerle Haggard has enjoyed artistic and professional triumphs few can match. He's charted more than a hundred country hits, including thirty-eight number ones. He's released dozens of studio albums and another half dozen or more live ones, performed upwards of ten thousand concerts, been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and seen his songs performed by artists as diverse as Lynryd Skynyrd, Elvis Costello, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, and Bob Dylan. In 2011 he was feted as a Kennedy Center Honoree. But until now, no one has taken an in-depth look at his career and body of work. In Merle Haggard: The Running Kind, David Cantwell takes us on a revelatory journey through Haggard's music and the life and times out of which it came. Covering the entire breadth of his career, Cantwell focuses especially on the 1960s and 1970s, when Haggard created some of his best-known and most influential music, which helped invent the America we live in today. Listening closely to a masterpiece-crowded catalogue (including songs such as "Okie from Muskogee," "Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried," "Working Man Blues," "Kern River," "White Line Fever," "Today I Started Loving You Again," and "If We Make It through December," among many more), Cantwell explores the fascinating contradictions-most of all, the desire for freedom in the face of limits set by the world or self-imposed-that define not only Haggard's music and public persona but the very heart of American culture.