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The Rise of Thomas Cromwell
by Michael EverettHow much does the Thomas Cromwell of popular novels and television series resemble the real Cromwell? This meticulous study of Cromwell's early political career expands and revises what has been understood concerning the life and talents of Henry VIII's chief minister. Michael Everett provides a new and enlightening account of Cromwell's rise to power, his influence on the king, his role in the Reformation, and his impact on the future of the nation. Controversially, Everett depicts Cromwell not as the fervent evangelical, Machiavellian politician, or the revolutionary administrator that earlier historians have perceived. Instead he reveals Cromwell as a highly capable and efficient servant of the Crown, rising to power not by masterminding Henry VIII's split with Rome but rather by dint of exceptional skills as an administrator.
The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics
by Raina LipsitzHOW THE FIRST MAJOR LEFTWING GENERATION SINCE THE SIXTIES HAS SHAPED ELECTORAL POLITICSThe mushrooming rolls of the Democratic Socialists of America, Marxist explainers in Teen Vogue, and the outsized impact of the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all herald a new, youth-inflected radical politics. The Rise of a New Left gets behind the headlines about AOC and her cohort of elected officials to tell the stories of the young organizers who created the Squad and the new social movements that have roiled US politics, from the DSA to the Sunrise Movement to Justice Democrats. Ranging across the country to describe grassroots organizing in places like rural Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Kentucky, Florida, and California, this book examines the panoply of strategies and struggles of activists working in—and trying to transform—electoral politics and the climate justice, racial justice, and labor movements. Alongside Ocasio-Cortez, we hear from the even younger Alexandra Rojas, one of the strategists who guided her political insurgency. Propelled by scores of immersive and absorbing conversations on political strategy with young activists determined to reshape the country, this book—by a writer who is herself a member of this generational movement—is a riveting account of a resurgent left.
The Rise of a Prairie Statesman
by Thomas J. KnockThe Rise of a Prairie Statesman is the first volume of a major biography of the 1972 Democratic presidential candidate who became America's most eloquent and prescient critic of the Vietnam War. In this masterful book, Thomas Knock traces George McGovern's life from his rustic boyhood in a South Dakota prairie town during the Depression to his rise to the pinnacle of politics at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago where police and antiwar demonstrators clashed in the city's streets.Drawing extensively on McGovern's private papers and scores of in-depth interviews, Knock shows how McGovern's importance to the Democratic Party and American liberalism extended far beyond his 1972 presidential campaign, and how the story of postwar American politics is about more than just the rise of the New Right. He vividly describes McGovern's harrowing missions over Nazi Germany as a B-24 bomber pilot, and reveals how McGovern's combat experiences motivated him to earn a PhD in history and stoked his ambition to run for Congress. When President Kennedy appointed him director of Food for Peace in 1961, McGovern engineered a vast expansion of the program's school lunch initiative that soon was feeding tens of millions of hungry children around the world. As a senator, he delivered his courageous and unrelenting critique of Lyndon Johnson's escalation in Vietnam--a conflict that brought their party to disaster and caused a new generation of Democrats to turn to McGovern for leadership.A stunning achievement, The Rise of a Prairie Statesman ends in 1968, in the wake of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, when the "Draft McGovern" movement thrust him into the national spotlight and the contest for the presidential nomination, culminating in his triumphal reelection to the Senate.
The Rise of the Israeli Right
by Colin ShindlerThe Israeli Right first came to power nearly four decades ago. Its election was described then as 'an earthquake', and its reverberations are still with us. How then did the Right rise to power? What are its origins? Colin Shindler traces this development from the birth of Zionism in cosmopolitan Odessa in the nineteenth century to today's Hebron, a centre of radical Jewish nationalism. He looks at central figures such as Vladimir Jabotinsky, an intellectual and founder of the Revisionist movement and Menahem Begin, the single-minded politician who brought the Right to power in 1977. Both accessible and comprehensive, this book explains the political ideas and philosophies that were the Right's ideological bedrock and the compromises that were made in its journey to government.
The Rise of the Modern Yiddish Theater: Avrom Goldfaden And The Jewish Stage (Jews Of Eastern Europe Ser.)
by Alyssa QuintJewish Book Award Finalist: &“Turns the fascinating life of Avrom Goldfaden into a multi-dimensional history of the Yiddish theater&’s formative years.&” —Jeffery Veidinger, author of Jewish Public Culture in the Late Russian Empire In this book, Alyssa Quint focuses on the early years of the modern Yiddish theater, from roughly 1876 to 1883, through the works of one of its best-known and most colorful figures, Avrom Goldfaden. Goldfaden (né Goldenfaden, 1840-1908) was one of the first playwrights to stage a commercially viable Yiddish-language theater, first in Romania and then in Russia. Goldfaden&’s work was rapidly disseminated in print and his plays were performed frequently for Jewish audiences. Sholem Aleichem considered him as a forger of a new language that &“breathed the European spirit into our old jargon.&” Quint uses Goldfaden&’s theatrical works as a way to understand the social life of Jewish theater in Imperial Russia. Through a study of his libretti, she looks at the experiences of Russian Jewish actors, male and female, to explore connections between culture as artistic production and culture in the sense of broader social structures. Quint explores how Jewish actors who played Goldfaden&’s work on stage absorbed the theater into their everyday lives. Goldfaden&’s theater gives a rich view into the conduct, ideology, religion, and politics of Jews during an important moment in the history of late Imperial Russia.
The Rise of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009-2018: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the Greatest Dynasty in Hockey
by Rick BukerThe story of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the ten-year period from 2009 to 2018 reads like a classic Greek tragedy, filled with gut-wrenching plot twists and turns. After rising from the ashes of the early 2000s on the wings of young stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to capture the 2009 Stanley Cup, the Penguins were hailed as hockey’s newest superpower. However, plagued by a career-threatening concussion to Crosby and a series of ghastly playoff exits, the would-be dynasty hit the skids. Dismayed over the downward spiral, ownership cleaned house and turned to long-time Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford in an effort to restore the club’s sagging fortunes. With coach Mike Sullivan now at the helm and scorer Phil Kessel on the roster, the Pens put together a stunning resurgence, capturing back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017. In The Rise of the Pittsburgh Penguins 2009-2018, Rick Buker details how the Penguins have become the strongest hockey dynasty of the 21st century to date. This book ties that 10-year span together in an easy-to-read format, including an appendix at the back with season by season stats. The perfect gift for any fan of Pittsburgh hockey!
The Rise of the Quants
by Colin ReadThe third book in the Great Minds in Finance series examines the pricing of securities and the risk/reward trade off through the legends, contribution, and legacies of Jacob Marschak, William Sharpe, Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, and Robert Merton, influencing both theory and practice, answering the question 'how do we measure risk?'
The Rise of the Tudors: The Family That Changed English History
by Chris SkidmoreOn the morning of August 22, 1485, in fields several miles from Bosworth, two armies faced each other, ready for battle. The might of Richard III's army was pitted against the inferior forces of the upstart pretender to the crown, Henry Tudor, a twenty–eight year old Welshman who had just arrived back on British soil after fourteen years in exile. Yet this was to be a fight to the death—only one man could survive; only one could claim the throne. It would be the end of the War of the Roses.It would become one of the most legendary battles in English history: the only successful invasion since Hastings, it was the last time a king died on the battlefield. But The Rise Of The Tudors is much more than the account of the dramatic events of that fateful day in August. It is a tale of brutal feuds and deadly civil wars, and the remarkable rise of the Tudor family from obscure Welsh gentry to the throne of England—a story that began sixty years earlier with Owen Tudor's affair with Henry V's widow, Katherine of Valois.Drawing on eyewitness reports, newly discovered manuscripts and the latest archaeological evidence, including the recent discovery of Richard III's remains, Chris Skidmore vividly recreates this battle-scarred world and the reshaping of British history and the monarchy.
The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality
by Mike SielskiKobe Bryant’s death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has. <P><P> In The Rise, readers will travel from the neighborhood streets of Southwest Philadelphia—where Kobe’s father, Joe, became a local basketball standout—to the Bryant family’s isolation in Italy, where Kobe spent his formative years, to the leafy suburbs of Lower Merion, where Kobe’s legend was born. The story will trace his career and life at Lower Merion—he led the Aces to the 1995-96 Pennsylvania state championship, a dramatic underdog run for a team with just one star player—and the run-up to the 1996 NBA draft, where Kobe’s dream of playing pro basketball culminated in his acquisition by the Los Angeles Lakers. <P><P> In researching and writing The Rise, Mike Sielski had a terrific advantage over other writers who have attempted to chronicle Kobe’s life: access to a series of never-before-released interviews with him during his senior season and early days in the NBA. For a quarter century, these tapes and transcripts preserved Kobe’s thoughts, dreams, and goals from his teenage years, and they contained insights into and told stories about him that have never been revealed before. <P><P> This is more than a basketball book. This is an exploration of the identity and making of an icon and the effect of his development on those around him—the essence of the man before he truly became a man.
The Risen: A Novel of Spartacus
by David Anthony DurhamFrom the author of the widely praised Pride of Carthage, the superb fictional rendering of Hannibal's epic military campaigns against Carthage's archenemy Rome, comes the perfect follow-up: an equally superb novel of the legendary gladiator Spartacus and the vast slave revolt he led that came ever so close to bringing Rome, with its supposedly invincible legions, to its knees. In this thrilling and panoramic historical novel we see one of the most storied uprisings of classical times from multiple points of view: Spartacus, the visionary captive and gladiator whose toughness and charisma turn a prison break into a multi-cultural revolt that threatens an empire; his consort, the oracular Astera, whose connection to the spirit world and its omens guides the uprising's progress; Nonus, a Roman soldier working both sides of the conflict in a half-adroit, half-desperate attempt to save his life; Laelia and Hustus, two shepherd children drawn into the ranks of the slave rebellion; Kaleb, the slave secretary to Crassus, the Roman senator and commander saddled with the unenviable task of quashing an insurrection of mere slaves; and other players in a vast spectacle of bloodshed, heroism, and treachery. In the pages of The Risen--the term the slaves in revolt have adopted for themselves--an entire, teeming world comes into view with great clarity and titanic drama, with nothing less than the future of the ancient world at stake. No one brings more verve, intelligence, and freshness to the novel of the classical age than David Anthony Durham.From the Hardcover edition.
The Rising
by Ryan D'AgostinoThe astonishing story of one man's recovery in the face of traumatic loss--and a powerful meditation on the resilience of the soul On July 23, 2007, Dr. William Petit suffered an unimaginable horror: Armed strangers broke into his suburban Connecticut home in the middle of the night, bludgeoned him nearly to death, tortured and killed his wife and two daughters, and set their house on fire. He miraculously survived, and yet living through those horrific hours was only the beginning of his ordeal. Broken and defeated, Bill was forced to confront a question of ultimate consequence: How does a person find the strength to start over and live again after confronting the darkest of nightmares? In The Rising, acclaimed journalist Ryan D'Agostino takes us into Bill Petit's world, using unprecedented access to Bill and his family and friends to craft a startling, inspiring portrait of human strength and endurance. To understand what produces a man capable of surviving the worst, D'Agostino digs deep into Bill's all-American upbringing, and in the process tells a remarkable story of not just a man's life, but of a community's power to shape that life through its embrace of loyalty and self-sacrifice as its most important values. Following Bill through the hardest days--through the desperate times in the aftermath of the attack and the harrowing trials of the two men responsible for it--The Rising offers hope that we can find a way back to ourselves, even when all seems lost. Today, Bill Petit has remarried. He and his wife have a baby boy. The very existence of this new family defies rational expectation, and yet it confirms our persistent, if often unspoken, belief that we are greater than what befalls us, and that if we know where to look for strength in trying times, we will always find it. Bill's story, told as never before in The Rising, is by turns compelling and uplifting, an affirmation of the inexhaustible power of the human spirit.From the Hardcover edition.
The Risk Of Us: A Novel
by Rachel HowardNearly half a million children are in foster care. Most placements fail. Will seven-year-old Maresa's? "It starts with a face in a binder. CHILDREN AVAILABLE, reads the cover." So begins Rachel Howard's intimate and heartbreaking novel about a couple hoping to adopt a child from foster care, then struggling to make it as a family. Seven-year-old Maresa arrives with an indomitable spirit, a history of five failed foster care "placements," and a susceptibility to angry panic attacks fueled by memories of abuse. Maresa's new foster mother, whose name the reader never learns, brings good intentions but also her own history of trauma, while her husband's heart condition threatens to explode. These three flawed but deeply human characters want more than anything to love each other--but how does a person get to unconditional love? Over the course of a year, as Maresa approaches the age at which children become nearly impossible to place, all three must discover if they can move from being three separate people to a true family—or whether, almost unthinkably, the adoption will fail.Written in a spare and thought-provoking style evoking aspects of Jenny Offill and Rachel Cusk, The Risk of Us deftly explores the inevitable tests children bring to a marriage, the uncertainties of family life, and the ways true empathy obliterates our defenses.
The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist
by Matt BaglioIn The Rite, journalist Matt Baglio uses the astonishing story of one American priest's training as an exorcist to reveal that the phenomena of possession, demons, the Devil, and exorcism are not merely a remnant of the archaic past, but remain a fearsome power in many people's lives even today.<P><P> Father Gary Thomas was working as a parish priest in California when he was asked by his bishop to travel to Rome for training in the rite of exorcism. Though initially surprised, and slightly reluctant, he accepted this call, and enrolled in a new exorcism course at a Vatican-affiliated university, which taught him, among other things, how to distinguish between a genuine possession and mental illness. Eventually he would go on to participate in more than eighty exorcisms as an apprentice to a veteran Italian exorcist. His experiences profoundly changed the way he viewed the spiritual world, and as he moved from rational skeptic to practicing exorcist he came to understand the battle between good and evil in a whole new light. Journalist Matt Baglio had full access to Father Gary over the course of his training, and much of what he learned defies explanation.The Rite provides fascinating vignettes from the lives of exorcists and people possessed by demons, including firsthand accounts of exorcists at work casting out demons, culminating in Father Gary's own confrontations with the Devil. Baglio also traces the history of exorcism, revealing its rites and rituals, explaining what the Catholic Church really teaches about demonic possession, and delving into such related topics as the hierarchy of angels and demons, satanic cults, black masses, curses, and the various theories used by modern scientists and anthropologists who seek to quantify such phenomena.Written with an investigative eye that will captivate both skeptics and believers alike, The Rite shows that the truth about demonic possession is not only stranger than fiction, but also far more chilling.
The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, her daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal That Ignited a Kingdom
by Nancy Goldstone'A gripping tale of royal feuds and divided kingdoms' - AMANDA FOREMANParis, 1572. Catherine de' Medici, the infamous queen mother of France, is a consummate pragmatist and powerbroker who has dominated the throne for thirty years. Her youngest daughter, Marguerite, the glamorous 'Queen Margot', is a passionate free spirit, the only adversary whom her mother can neither intimidate nor fully control. When Catherine forces the Catholic Marguerite to marry the Protestant Henry of Navarre, she creates not only savage conflict within France but also a potent rival within her own family. Treacherous court politics, poisonings, international espionage and adultery form the background to a extraordinary story about two formidable queens, featuring a fascinating array of characters including such celebrated figures as Elizabeth I, Mary, Queen of Scots and Nostradamus.
The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball
by John TaylorA BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN ACCOUNT OF THE NBA'S GLORY DAYS, AND THE RIVALRY THAT DOMINATED THE ERA. In the mid-1950s, the NBA was a mere barnstorming circuit, with outposts in such cities as Rochester, New York, and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most of the best players were white; the set shot and layup were the sport's chief offensive weapons. But by the 1970s, the league ruled America's biggest media markets; contests attracted capacity crowds and national prime-time television audiences.
The Rivals: Montrose and Argyll and the Struggle for Scotland
by Murdo FraserThis dual biography &“deftly revisits 17th century Scotland to assess the roles of…two charismatic nobles who fought for supremacy&” (Scotsman, UK). The struggles of the Scottish Civil War of 1644-45 could easily be personified as a contest between James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose and Archibald Campbell, 8th Marquis of Argyll. Yet at first glance there seems to be more that unites them than separates them. Both came from ancient and powerful families and considered themselves loyal subjects of Charles I. Both were also betrayed by Charles II and died at the hands of the executioner. In The Rivals, Murdo Fraser examines these two remarkable men and shines a light on their contrasting personalities. Montrose was a brilliant military tactician, bold and brave but rash. Campbell was altogether a more opaque figure, cautious, considered and difficult to read. The resulting volume offers a vivid insight into two individuals who played a significant part in writing Scotland's history, as well as a fascinating portrait of early modern Scotland.
The Rivals: Their Epic Duels and Extraordinary Friendship
by Johnette Howardn March 1973 two women met on a tennis court in Akron, Ohio. Over the course of the next sixteen years, together they would change the world. In their long careers Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert played each other eighty times, sixty of those in finals. For twelve consecutive years, from 1975 to 1986, one or other finished the season ranked No. 1 in the world. Each set out to be the finest player women's tennis had ever seen; each goaded the other to greatness. Their contrasting styles - Martina, the epitome of serve-and-volley tennis, bravely charging to the net against cool and controlled Chris, the world's greatest baseline player - captivated millions across the globe. Tennis was a chauvinistic game when they arrived. But their brilliance demanded, and received, long-overdue respect for female sporting achievement. Their ability to forge a close friendship amidst their fierce competition still provokes wonder and admiration from fans. There has never been a sporting rivalry to match the intensity, longevity, public impact and emotional resonance of the years-long duel between these two great athletes. For nearly two decades we were transfixed by the struggle between the ice-maiden Chris - blonde, all-American, a nation's sweetheart - and the supreme athlete Martina, a Czech defector, the first outspoken openly gay athlete in female sport, and a woman who wore her heart on her sleeve at all times. Their lockstep careers played out against the backdrop of seismic change in sport and society: the women's movement; the gay rights' movement; the fall of the Iron Curtain; and the rise of women's tennis from backwater to big time (with a huge nod of gratitude to Billie Jean King). Thirty years on from the first meeting, both have become legends. Based on interviews with both Martina and Chris and those who knew them best, Johnette Howard gives us the story of these two remarkable women. Brilliantly researched, beautifully written, The Rivals will be read by those who love sport for years to come.
The River
by Paul Vasey"Ask anyone what they love most about Winzer, and they seem always to tell you it's the people, the family and friends webbed around each of us. True. But for me the town is also, and perhaps mainly, the larger-than-life characters who ghost around in my imagination and my memory: rumrunners and prize fighters and elegant old ladies and one-eyed thugs and earnest well-meaning politicians and hucksters and hookers and crusty old editors. Many of them I remember meeting. Some of them I actually met." -from The RiverThe River is Paul Vasey's tribute to a place he discovered by accident and loved over a lifetime. Chatty, anecdotal, personal and passionate, by one of Windsor's most celebrated reporters and radio hosts, this meandering memoir winds its way around a river town whose sights and characters may never be fully charted: a Windsor that fired a reporter's imagination, stole his heart, and eventually became the place he calls home.
The River Hobbler's Apprentice: Memories of Working the Severn and Wye
by Alan ButtThe rivers Severn and Wye were once home to many now long-forgotten crafts and skills. In The River Hobbler’s Apprentice: Memories of Working the Severn and Wye Alan Butt provides a vivid insight into the forgotten world of the river hobbler, a unique trade and one which he learnt of at the end of its days. Falling through the cracks of society the river hobbler paid no taxes and made a living by working whatever was available on and around the river. Changing throughout the year, tasks included catching salmon and elvers, rabbiting, cleaning barrels and castrating piglets to name just a few.Each season brought with it hazards ranging from trench foot, lost fingers, pneumonia, tuberculosis and even the occasional drowning! This is a dual story in which the author seamlessly blends memories of the time he spent alongside hobblers during his youth with the life stories of other river hobblers. Tales range from falling in love with a milkmaid to the toiling tasks of earlier days, amid the hardships and constantly changing nature of work that was their lot. Featuring many previously unpublished photographs and written in a lively and humorous style with a love story running throughout, this book is sure to captivate its reader, immersing them in a way of life now long forgotten.
The River Never Left Her: A Memoir and Biography
by Emily BenzIn present-day Zürich, an American expat, Emily Benz, buys a set of personal archives at an online auction, setting off an investigation into the life of a British woman raised in the early part of the twentieth century in China. What seemed like an innocuous tin of bonbons sold by a grandson soon turns into a can of worms that can’t be closed again, revealing family dysfunction that stretches back generations, a fairy-tale childhood, four marriages and a liaison. Emily must reconcile the woman’s adult biography with the vivid memoir of China seen through the eyes of a child. This most unexpected memoir moves between China at the turn of the last century, scandal in the high society of 1920s England, and a tenacious widow living in the Switzerland of today.
The River Queen: A Memoir
by Mary MorrisThis story of a middle-aged woman's odyssey down the Mississippi River is a funny, beautifully written, and poignant tale of a journey that transforms a lifeIn fall 2005 acclaimed travel writer Mary Morris set off down the Mississippi in a battered old houseboat called the River Queen, with two river rats named Tom and Jerry—and a rat terrier, named Samantha Jean, who hated her. It was a time of emotional turmoil for Morris. Her father had just died; her daughter was leaving home; life was changing all around her. It was then she decided to return to the Midwest where she was from, to the river she remembered, where her father had played jazz piano in tiny towns. Morris describes living like a pirate and surviving a tornado. Because of Katrina, oil prices, and drought, the river was often empty—a ghost river—and Morris experienced it as Joliet and Marquette had four hundred years earlier. As she learned to pilot her beloved River Queen without running aground and made peace with Samantha Jean, Morris got her groove back, reconnecting to her past. More important, she came away with her best book, a bittersweet travel tale told in the very real voice of a smart, sad, funny, gutsy, and absolutely appealing woman.
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
by Candice MillardNATIONAL BESTSELLER • At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait—the bestselling author of River of the Gods brings us the true story of Theodore Roosevelt&’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous rivers on earth.&“A rich, dramatic tale that ranges from the personal to the literally earth-shaking.&” —The New York Times The River of Doubt—it is a black, uncharted tributary of the Amazon that snakes through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world. Indians armed with poison-tipped arrows haunt its shadows; piranhas glide through its waters; boulder-strewn rapids turn the river into a roiling cauldron. After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil&’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever. Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. Three men died, and Roosevelt was brought to the brink of suicide. The River of Doubt brings alive these extraordinary events in a powerful nonfiction narrative thriller that happens to feature one of the most famous Americans who ever lived. From the soaring beauty of the Amazon rain forest to the darkest night of Theodore Roosevelt&’s life, here is Candice Millard&’s dazzling debut.Look for Candice Millard&’s latest book, River of the Gods.
The River of no Return: The Autobiography of a Black Militant and the Life and Death of SNCC
by Cleveland Sellers Robert Terrell<p>The classic memoir by Cleveland Sellers that offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his volunteer work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the 1960s civil rights movement. <p>Among histories of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, there are few personal narratives that are as compelling and insightful as The River of No Return. Besides being an insider’s account of the rise and fall of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), this riveting memoir is an eyewitness report of the strategies and the conflicts in the crucial battle zones as the fight for racial justice raged across the South. <p>Tracing SNCC volunteer Cleveland Sellers’ zealous commitment to activism from the time of the sit-ins, demonstrations, and freedom rides in the early ’60s, this fascinating narrative encompasses the Mississippi Freedom Summer (1964), the historic march in Selma, the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, and the murders of civil rights activists in Mississippi. Sellers also recounts the turbulent history of the SNCC and tells the powerful story of his own dedication to the cause of civil rights and social change. <p>The River of No Return has become a standard text for those wishing to perceive the civil rights struggle from within the ranks of one of its key organizations and to note the divisive history of the movement as groups striving for common goals were embroiled in conflict and controversy.</p>