- Table View
- List View
Airmen Behind the Medals
by Air Commodore Graham PitchforkOf the many human characteristics, few evoke greater admiration and respect than gallantry in the service of one's country. Here, Graham Pitchfork describes the outstanding bravery of twenty-one air men who served in the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. These accounts encompass most theaters of operation as well as a host of aircraft types and aircrew categories. Accounts of the gallantry of those who served on the ground in support of flying operations are also relayed in this substantial anthology. rnrnThe book explores the gallantry of airmen who fought in a variety of contexts, including that band of men who are so often forgotten, the Burma veterans. A gallant RAF sergeant and an RAF doctor who cared for and inspired fellow prisoners in Japanese camps are both included here, as are stories relating the extreme bravery of a Fleet Air Arm pilot, a Pathfinder pilot and a Typhoon wing leader.rnrnThe valorous acts of these airmen serve as inspirational examples to a new generation of flying men and women. Graham Pitchfork extracts the drama and poignancy of their tales, enlivening them to great effect in this riveting publication that is sure to appeal broadly to enthusiasts of the era.Links End Links Author End Author
Airmen's Incredible Escapes: Accounts of Survival in the Second World War
by Bryn EvansHarrowing true stories of WWII Allied airmen who were shot down and survived, with maps and photos included.Allied air power made a major, arguably decisive, contribution to victory in the Second World War both in the European and Pacific theaters. But the cost in men and machines was horrific, with Bomber Command suffering 50% aircrew casualties. While many perished, others—shot down over enemy territory or water—survived only after overcoming extraordinary danger and hardship. Their experiences often remained untold, not just for the duration of the war but for many years.In this book, Bryn Evans has gathered together a wealth of unpublished stories from airmen of many nationalities, be they British, Commonwealth, or American. Some involve avoiding or escaping from capture, others surviving against all the odds, braving extreme elements and dodging death from wounds, drowning, or starvation.Importantly, the accounts of those who survived the battle in the skies cheating the enemy and the grim reaper give us a chilling insight into the fate of the many thousands of brave young men who were not so fortunate. The result is an inspiring and gripping read which bears testimony to human courage and resilience.
Airplanes, Women, and Song
by Adam Hochschild Allan Forsyth Boris SergievskyBoris Sergievsky was one of the most colorful of the early aviators. He made his first flight less than ten years after the Wright brothers made theirs; he made his last only four years before the first Concorde took off.Born in Russia, Sergievsky learned to fly in 1912. In World War I, he became a much-decorated infantry officer and then a fighter pilot. During the Russian Civil War that followed, he fought on three fronts against the Bolsheviks.Coming to America in 1923, the first job he could find in New York was with a pick and shovel, digging the Holland Tunnel, but he soon joined Igor Sikorsky's airplane company. He became chief test pilot for the Sikorsky flying boats that Pan American Airways used worldwide, setting seventeen world aviation records along the way.Sergievsky also flew pioneering flights across uncharted African and Latin American jungles, flew with Lindbergh, and tested early helicopters and jets. Through it all, his sense of humor remained intact, as did his passion for beautiful women.In 1934 Sergievsky dictated this lively and personal memoir. A natural storyteller, his recollections are as clear and vivid as any reader could hope for. Editors Allan Forsyth and Adam Hochschild, who knew Sergievsky well during his later years - he was Hochschild's uncle - have added three dozen sidebars and more than 40 rare photographs to put Sergievsky's memoir in context for today's readers.
Aisha al-Ba'uniyya: A Life in Praise of Love (Makers of the Muslim World)
by Th. Emil HomerinAisha al-Ba&‘uniyya (c.1456–1517) was one of the greatest women mystics in Islamic history. A Sufi master and an Arab poet, her religious writings were extensive by any standard and extraordinary for her time. In medieval Islam a number of women were respected scholars and teachers, but they rarely composed works of their own. Aisha al-Ba&‘uniyya, however, was prolific. She composed over twenty works, and likely wrote more Arabic prose and poetry than any other Muslim woman prior to the twentieth century. The first full-scale biography of al-Ba&‘uniyya in the English language, this volume provides a rare glimpse into the life and writings of a medieval Muslim woman in her own words. Homerin presents her work in the wider context of late-medieval Islamic spirituality, examining the influence of figures such as Ibn al-&‘Arabi, al-Busiri and Ibn al-Farid, and emphasising the role of the person of the Prophet Muhammad in her spirituality. Aisha al-Ba&‘uniyya is a fascinating introduction to a figure described by a sixteenth-century biographer as &‘one of the marvels of her age&’.
Aisha: The Wife, The Companion, The Scholar
by Resit HaylamazThis book portrays one of the most significant personalities in the history of Islam. Taking the misunderstandings and defamation about her into consideration, Aisha needs to be understood correctly. This study by Dr Resit Haylamaz, an expert on the life of the Prophet and his leading Companions, reflects her life in various aspects based on reliable reports. The book clarifies her critical role at establishing the Islamic teaching, with particular reference to her role in the transmission of private matters concerning women and marital relations, as well as recording the authentic sayings of the Prophet. As her sensitivity at practicing religion is related in a rich variety of examples, much disputed issues like her marriage age and her stance about Ali ibn Abi Talib are covered as separate topics.
Aisha: The Wife, the Companion, the Scholar
by Resit HaylamazThis book portrays one of the most significant personalities in the history of Islam. Taking the misunderstandings and defamation about her into consideration, Aisha needs to be understood correctly. This study by Dr Resit Haylamaz, an expert on the life of the Prophet and his leading Companions, reflects her life in various aspects based on reliable reports. The book clarifies her critical role at establishing the Islamic teaching, with particular reference to her role in the transmission of private matters concerning women and marital relations, as well as recording the authentic sayings of the Prophet. As her sensitivity at practising religion is related in a rich variety of examples, much disputed issues like her marriage age and her stance about Ali ibn Abi Talib are covered as separate topics.
Akbar
by MugilA biography of Akbar the Great, the third Mughal Emperor who reigned his Mughal empire between 1542 A.D. – 1605 A.D., covering most of the northern and central India.
Ake: The Years of Childhood
by Wole SoyinkaA dazzling memoir of an African childhood from Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian novelist, playwright, and poet Wole Soyinka. Aké: The Years of Childhood gives us the story of Soyinka's boyhood before and during World War II in a Yoruba village in western Nigeria called Aké. A relentlessly curious child who loved books and getting into trouble, Soyinka grew up on a parsonage compound, raised by Christian parents and by a grandfather who introduced him to Yoruba spiritual traditions. His vivid evocation of the colorful sights, sounds, and aromas of the world that shaped him is both lyrically beautiful and laced with humor and the sheer delight of a child's-eye view. A classic of African autobiography, Aké is also a transcendantly timeless portrait of the mysteries of childhood.
Akenfield
by Ronald Blythe Matt WeilandWoven from the words of the inhabitants of a small Suffolk village in the 1960s, Akenfield is a masterpiece of twentieth-century English literature, a scrupulously observed and deeply affecting portrait of a place and people and a now vanished way of life. Ronald Blythe's wonderful book raises enduring questions about the relations between memory and modernity, nature and human nature, silence and speech.
Akhada: The Authorized Biography of Mahavir Singh Phogat
by Saurabh DuggalThe inspiring story of one of India?s greatest wrestling coaches In 2000, after the Olympic Games closed with much fanfare in Sydney, legendary wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat watched, dejected, as the prize reserved by his state government for the winner of an Olympic gold medal went unclaimed. Determined to never see this instance repeated, Phogat decided to do the unthinkable. Much to his neighbours? curiosity, he spent two days digging a pit in his courtyard and asked his young daughters and nieces to join him there at the break of dawn one day. Little did they know that this unusual command from their father would change their lives forever. Yet, each of their wins in the ring, every ambition he had for them, came at great personal cost. In the small village of Balali in Haryana, a state infamous for its practice of female foeticide and low literacy rates, Phogat had to battle not just deep social stigma and an apathetic government but also a disapproving family and personal tragedy to train the girls in his sport. Akhada tells the remarkable story of a man of tremendous fortitude, of a father who fought against all odds to give his daughters a future they could not have dreamed for themselves.
Aki-wayn-zih: A Person as Worthy as the Earth (McGill-Queen's Indigenous and Northern Studies)
by Eli BaxterMembers of Eli Baxter’s generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island. They are also among the last fluent speakers of the Anishinaabay language known as Anishinaabaymowin.Aki-wayn-zih is a story about the land and its spiritual relationship with the Anishinaabayg, from the beginning of their life on Miss-koh-tay-sih Minis (Turtle Island) to the present day. Baxter writes about Anishinaabay life before European contact, his childhood memories of trapping, hunting, and fishing with his family on traditional lands in Treaty 9 territory, and his personal experience surviving the residential school system. Examining how Anishinaabay Kih-kayn-daa-soh-win (knowledge) is an elemental concept embedded in the Anishinaabay language, Aki-wayn-zih explores history, science, math, education, philosophy, law, and spiritual teachings, outlining the cultural significance of language to Anishinaabay identity. Recounting traditional Ojibway legends in their original language, fables in which moral virtues double as survival techniques, and detailed guidelines for expertly trapping or ensnaring animals, Baxter reveals how the residential school system shaped him as an individual, transformed his family, and forever disrupted his reserve community and those like it.Through spiritual teachings, historical accounts, and autobiographical anecdotes, Aki-wayn-zih offers a new form of storytelling from the Anishinaabay point of view.
Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry
by Akiane KramarikTen-year-old prodigy Akiane Kramarik shares her artwork, poetry, and the fascinating story surrounding her talent.Growing up in a home with an atheistic mother and a non-participating Catholic father did not stop four-year-old Akiane Kramarik from finding God. This girl's dreams began a conversation in the home that has eventually brought them all to Christianity and the world's attention. Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry is a collection of the best of Akiane's full-color paintings and poetry created from ages 4 to 10, along with details of her family and the amazing stories that surround each unique artwork. Already a media professional, Akiane has been interviewed on programs such as Oprah, World News Tonight, Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, and Schuller's Hour of Power. Akiane will be one of twenty visual artists participating in the October "Listen" event raising money for the world's needy children. Today Akiane's art is available online at www.artakiane.com.
Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry
by Akiane KramarikTen-year-old prodigy Akiane Kramarik shares her artwork, poetry, and the fascinating story surrounding her talent.Growing up in a home with an atheistic mother and a non-participating Catholic father did not stop four-year-old Akiane Kramarik from finding God. This girl's dreams began a conversation in the home that has eventually brought them all to Christianity and the world's attention. Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry is a collection of the best of Akiane's full-color paintings and poetry created from ages 4 to 10, along with details of her family and the amazing stories that surround each unique artwork. Already a media professional, Akiane has been interviewed on programs such as Oprah, World News Tonight, Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, and Schuller's Hour of Power. Akiane will be one of twenty visual artists participating in the October "Listen" event raising money for the world's needy children. Today Akiane's art is available online at www.artakiane.com.
Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry
by Akiane KramarikTen-year-old prodigy Akiane Kramarik shares her artwork, poetry, and the fascinating story surrounding her talent.Growing up in a home with an atheistic mother and a non-participating Catholic father did not stop four-year-old Akiane Kramarik from finding God. This girl's dreams began a conversation in the home that has eventually brought them all to Christianity and the world's attention. Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry is a collection of the best of Akiane's full-color paintings and poetry created from ages 4 to 10, along with details of her family and the amazing stories that surround each unique artwork. Already a media professional, Akiane has been interviewed on programs such as Oprah, World News Tonight, Lou Dobbs Tonight on CNN, and Schuller's Hour of Power. Akiane will be one of twenty visual artists participating in the October "Listen" event raising money for the world's needy children. Today Akiane's art is available online at www.artakiane.com.
Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry
by Akiane KramarikExperience the wonder of child prodigy Akaine Kramarik&’s divinely inspired artwork firsthand.Akiane&’s nonreligious parents were bewildered when their four-year-old daughter started sharing her dreams of angels, heaven, and Jesus. Her spiritual insight quickly expressed itself through impressive sketches, drawings with oil crayons, paintings, and eventually poetry, and her artwork began a conversation that brought her whole family to Christianity and to the attention of national media. Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry shares the young artist&’s story in rich detail, includingher mother&’s firsthand account of Akiane&’s emerging faith and artistic talent;a collection of full-color paintings created by Akiane from ages 4 to 10, along with the amazing stories that surround each piece of art; andselected poems of profound beauty and insight, authored by Akiane in her childhood.This book will encourage any who believe in the spiritual nature of art and reinvigorate the faith of those who call Jesus their savior.
Akim Aliu: Dreamer
by Akim Aliu Greg Anderson ElyséeThis honest, engrossing graphic memoir tells the story of professional athlete and activist Akim Aliu's incredible life as a hockey prodigy in Canada. <P><P> Akim Aliu — also known as "Dreamer" — is a Nigerian born, Ukrainian Canadian professional hockey player whose career took him all around the world and who experienced systemic racism at everyone turn. This graphic novel tells Akim's incredible story, from being the only black child in his Ukrainian school, to having his teeth bashed in by a racist teammate in the Ontario junior league. A gut-wrenching and riveting graphic novel memoir that reminds us to never stop dreaming, this story is sure to inspire young readers everywhere. <P><P><i>Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.</i>
Akira To Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed The World
by Cynthia Chin-Lee Megan Halsey Sean AddyThis companion to the best-selling AMELIA TO ZORA features twenty-six amazing men. From Akira Kurisawa, filmmaker, to Zoltán Kodály, musical innovator, learn what inspired each man to change the world around him. Detailed collages draw from various events in the men's lives.
Akiva: Life, Legend, Legacy
by Rabbi Reuven HammerThe legendary Akiva ben Yosef has fascinated Jews for centuries. Arguably the most important of the Tannaim, or early Jewish sages, Akiva lived during a crucial era in the development of Judaism as we know it today, and his theology played a major part in the development of Rabbinic Judaism. Reuven Hammer details Akiva’s life as it led to a martyr’s death and he delves into the rich legacy Akiva left us. That legacy played an extraordinarily important role in helping the Jewish people survive difficult challenges to forge a vibrant religious life anew, and it continues to influence Jewish law, ethics, and theology even today. Akiva’s contribution to the development of Oral Torah cannot be overestimated, and in this first book written in English about the sage since 1936 Hammer reassesses Akiva’s role from the period before the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE until the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE. He also assesses new findings about the growth of early Judaism, the reasons why Akiva was so outspoken about “Christian Jews,” the influence of Hellenism, the Septuagint, and the canonization of the Hebrew Bible. Ultimately Hammer shows that Judaism without Akiva would be a very different religion.
Akram Khan
by Royona MitraAkram Khan: Dancing New Interculturalism analyses the relationship between this seminal British-Asian choreographer's complex identity-positions and his art through the lens of 'new interculturalism'. Through seven key case studies from Khan's oeuvre, this book demonstrates how Khan's philosophy and aesthetic of 'new interculturalism' is a challenge to the 1980s predominantly western 'intercultural theatre' project, as a more nuanced and embodied approach to representing Othernesses, from his own position of the Other. Additionally, the book challenges popular perception of Khan's art as contemporary South Asian dance by suggesting that, instead, Khan uses South Asian dramaturgical principles to transform the western contemporary dance landscape in intercultural ways. Offering the first full-length investigation of Akram Khan's work, this book is essential reading for students, researchers, practitioners and fans of Khan's work.
Al Bernstein: 30 Years, 30 Undeniable Truths About Boxing, Sports, and TV
by Al BernsteinThe legendary cable television sports broadcaster takes a humorous look back on the fight game—as seen from a ringside seat. For more than thirty years, Al Bernstein has been one of the most recognizable and respected sportscasters in America. In those three decades, the &“voice of boxing&” reported the funny, poignant, and bizarre events that helped shape sports television, ESPN, boxing, Las Vegas, and SHOWTIME. With an eclectic cast of characters that includes every big name in boxing, including Marvin Hagler, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, as well as such names in the entertainment world as Rodney Dangerfield, Sylvester Stallone, Russell Crowe, and Jerry Lewis, Bernstein&’s memoir will have you in stitches.
Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend
by Deirdre BairFrom a National Book Award-winning biographer, the first complete life of legendary gangster Al Capone to be produced with the cooperation of his family, who provided the author with exclusive access to personal testimony and archival documents. From his heyday to the present moment, Al Capone--Public Enemy Number One--has gripped popular imagination. Rising from humble Brooklyn roots, Capone went on to become the most infamous gangster in American history. At the height of Prohibition, his multimillion-dollar Chicago bootlegging, prostitution, and gambling operation dominated the organized-crime scene. His competition with rival gangs was brutally violent, a long-running war that crested with the shocking St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929. Law enforcement and the media elite seemed powerless to stop the growth of his empire. And then the fall: a legal noose tightened by the FBI, a conviction on tax evasion, Alcatraz. After his release he returned to his family in Miami a much diminished man, living quietly until the ravages of his neurosyphilis took their final toll. But the slick mobster persona endures, immortalized in countless novels and movies. The true flesh-and-blood man behind the legend has long remained a mystery. Unscrupulous newspaper accounts and Capone's own tall tales perpetuated his mystique, but through dogged research Deirdre Bair debunks the most outrageous of these myths. With the help of Capone's descendants, she discovers his essential humanity, uncovering a complex character that was flawed and sometimes cruel but also capable of nobility. And while revealing the private Al Capone, a genuine family man as remembered by those who knew him best, Bair relates how his descendants have borne his weighty legacy. Rigorous and intimate, Al Capone provides new answers to the enduring questions about this fascinating figure, who was equal parts charismatic gangster, devoted patriarch, and calculating monster.From the Hardcover edition.
Al Franken, Giant of the Senate
by Al Franken<P>From Senator Al Franken - #1 bestselling author and beloved SNL alum - comes the story of an award-winning comedian who decided to run for office and then discovered why award-winning comedians tend not to do that.This is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. <P>It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. <P>It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast.In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics. <P>Has Al Franken become a true Giant of the Senate? Franken asks readers to decide for themselves. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Al Gore: Vice President
by Rebecca StefoffThrough the dauntless pursuit of a dream or the unwavering belief in an idea, each of the individuals featured in these fascinating biographies has changed the world.
Al Jaffee's Mad Life: A Biography
by Mary-Lou Weisman“One of the great cartoonists of our time.” –New Yorker cartoonist Arnold Roth The remarkable story of one of America’s most prolific and beloved cartoonists, Al Jaffee, with dozens of original color illustrations. Jaffe’s career in cartooning stretches back to 1941—with early humor pieces for Timely Comics, a precursor to Marvel Comics—but the iconic artist remains best known for the brilliant Fold-In cartoons he invented at Bill Gaines’s Mad magazine in 1964. The cerebral and sardonic illustrations have inspired generations of Mad readers—including Stephen Colbert, R. Crumb, Gary Larson and Charles Shultz—to embrace a firm and healthy irreverence towards the status quo. New York Times columnist and bestselling author Mary-Lou Weisman (My Middle-Aged Baby Book) helps Jaffe tell his remarkable story.