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Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman, 1901–1914 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #2)
by Randolph S. ChurchillThe second volume in this &“magisterial achievement&” of political biography chronicles Churchill&’s days in Parliament up to the outbreak of WWI (Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War). Written by Winston S. Churchill&’s son, Randolph, the second volume of this authoritative, eight-volume biography begins as Churchill takes his seat in the House of Commons at the age of twenty-six. An independent spirit and rebel, his maiden speech received cheers from the Leader of the Opposition. In the years leading up to the Great War, Churchill was at the center of British political life. At the Home Office, he introduced substantial prison reforms and took a lead in curbing the powers of the House of Lords. At the Admiralty, beginning in 1911, he helped build the Royal Navy into a formidable fighting force. He learned to fly, and founded the Royal Naval Air Service. He was also active in attempts to resolve the Irish Question and to prevent civil war in Ireland. In 1914, as war in Europe loomed, Churchill wrote to his wife from the Admiralty: &“The preparations have a hideous fascination for me . . . yet I would do my best for peace, and nothing would induce me wrongfully to strike the blow. I cannot feel that we in this island are in any serious degree responsible for the wave of madness which has swept the mind of Christendom.&” When war came, the fleet was ready. It was one of Churchill&’s greatest early achievements. &“A milestone, a monument . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston S. Churchill: Youth, 1874–1900 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #1)
by Randolph S. ChurchillThe first volume of this authoritative biography chronicles the prime minister&’s youth from birth to early adulthood: &“An intimate, eloquent testimonial&” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Winston S. Churchill&’s son, Randolph, delivers a vivid, personal portrait of his father in this first part of an eight-volume biography that is widely considered the &“most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written&” (The New York Times). Told through a rich treasure trove of the Churchill&’s personal letters, this volume covers his life from early childhood to his return to England from an American lecture tour, on the day of Queen Victoria&’s funeral in 1900, in order to embark on his political career. In the opening pages, the account of his birth in 1874 is presented through letters of his family. The subject comes on the scene with his own words in a letter to his mother, written when he was seven. His later letters, as a child, as a schoolboy at Harrow, as a cadet at Sandhurst, and as a subaltern in India, show the development of his mind and character, his ambition and awakening interests, which were to merge into a unique genius destined for world leadership. An astounding narrative of a formidable man coming into his own and the times in which he lived, this portrait is a &“milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” (Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War).
Winston S. Churchill: World in Torment, 1916–1922 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #4)
by Martin GilbertThe fourth volume in the official biography—&“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written&” (Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times). Covering the years 1916 to 1922, Martin Gilbert&’s fascinating account carefully traces Churchill&’s wide-ranging activities and shows how, by his persuasive oratory, administrative skill, and masterful contributions to Cabinet discussions, Churchill regained, only a few years after the disaster of the Dardanelles, a leading position in British political life. Included are many dramatic and controversial episodes: the German breakthrough on the Western Front in March 1918, the anti-Bolshevik intervention in 1919, negotiating the Irish Treaty, consolidating the Jewish National Home in Palestine, and the Chanak crisis with Turkey. In all these, and many other events, Churchill&’s leading role is explained and illuminated in Martin Gilbert&’s precise, masterful style. In a moving final chapter, covering a period when Churchill was without a seat in Parliament for the first time since 1900, Martin Gilbert brilliantly draws together the many strands of a time in Churchill&’s life when his political triumphs were overshadowed by personal sorrows, by his increasingly somber reflections on the backward march of nations and society, and by his stark forecasts of dangers to come. &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . Rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War
Winston S. Churchill: The Challenge of War, 1914–1916 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #3)
by Martin GilbertVolume three of this authoritative Churchill biography chronicles his years of triumphant leadership in the Admiralty during World War I. Acclaimed British historian Sir Martin Gilbert continues the official biography of Sir Winston S. Churchill the eventful period between 1914 and 1916, with a full account of his achievements as first lord of the Admiralty during the Great War. These include Churchill&’s efforts to prolong the siege of Antwerp, his support for the use of air power, and his part in the early development of the tank. It shows the forcefulness with which he argued for an offensive naval policy, first against Germany, then against Turkey. Gilbert examines the political crisis of May 1915, during which the Conservative Party forced Asquith to form a coalition government. The Conservatives insisted that Churchill leave the center of war policymaking for a position of increasing political isolation. In the next seven months, while the Gallipoli campaign was being fought, Churchill served as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with no authority over military or naval policy. Resigning from the cabinet in November 1915, Churchill was appointed lieutenant-colonel, commanding an infantry battalion in the trenches of the Western Front. In May 1916, he returned from the trenches, hoping to reenter political life, but his repeated attempts to regain his once-substantial influence were unsuccessful. &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston S. Churchill: Road to Victory, 1941–1945 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #7)
by Martin GilbertThe seventh volume of the acclaimed, official biography: &“An engrossing history of Churchill&’s crucial role in the grand alliance of World War II&” (Los Angeles Times). This seventh volume in the epic, multivolume biography of Winston S. Churchill takes up the story of &“Churchill&’s War&” with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and carries it on to the triumph of V-E Day, May 8, 1945, the end of the war in Europe. Acclaimed historian Martin Gilbert charts Churchill&’s course through the storms of Anglo-American and Anglo-Soviet rivalry, and between the conflicting ambitions of other forces embattled against the common enemy: between General de Gaulle, his compatriots in France, and the French Empire; between Tito and other Yugoslav leaders; between the Greek Communists and monarchists; between the Polish government exiled in London and the Soviet-controlled &“Lublin&” Poles. Amid all these volatile concerns, Churchill had to find the path of prudence, of British national interest, and, above all, of the earliest possible victory over Nazism. In doing so he was guided by the most secret sources of British Intelligence: the daily interception of the messages of the German High Command. These pages reveal, as never before, the links between this secret information and the resulting moves and successes achieved by the Allies. &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston S. Churchill: Finest Hour, 1939–1941 (Volume VI) (Winston S. Churchill Biography #6)
by Martin GilbertThe sixth volume in the official biography: &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement&” (Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War). Starting with the outbreak of war in September 1939 and ending with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, this volume in the epic biography of Winston S. Churchill draws on remarkably diverse material: from the War Cabinet and other government records to Churchill&’s own archive and diaries and letters of his private secretariat to the recollections of those who worked most closely with him. On the day Hitler invaded Poland, Churchill, aged sixty-four, had been out of office for ten years. Two days later, he became First Lord of the Admiralty, in charge of British naval policy and at the center of war direction. In May 1940 he became prime minister, leading his nation during a time of grave danger and setbacks. His first year and a half as prime minister included the Dunkirk evacuation, the fall of France, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle in the Western Desert, and Hitler&’s invasion of Russia. By the end of 1940, Britain under Churchill&’s leadership had survived the onslaught and was making plans to continue the war against an enemy of unlimited ambition and ferocious will. One of Churchill&’s inner circle said: &“We who worked with Churchill every day of the war still saw at most a quarter of his daily tasks and worries.&” Martin Gilbert has pieced together the whole, setting in context much hitherto scattered and secret evidence, in order to give an intimate and fascinating account of the architect of Britain&’s &“finest hour.&” &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston S. Churchill: Never Despair, 1945–1965 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #8)
by Martin GilbertThe final volume of the acclaimed official biography: &“A meticulously detailed and annotated account of Churchill&’s declining years . . . A contemporary classic&” (Foreign Affairs). The eighth and final volume of Winston S. Churchill&’s official biography begins with the defeat of Germany in 1945 and chronicles the period up to his death nearly twenty years later. It sees him first at the pinnacle of his power, leader of a victorious Britain. In July 1945 at Potsdam, Churchill, Stalin, and Truman aimed to shape postwar Europe. But upon returning home, was thrown out of office in the general election. Though out of office, Churchill worked to restore the fortunes of Britain&’s Conservative Party while warning the world of Communist ambitions, urging the reconciliation of France and Germany, pioneering the concept of a united Europe, and seeking to maintain the close link between Britain and the United States. In October 1951, Churchill became prime minister for the second time. The Great Powers were navigating a precarious peace at the dawn of the nuclear age. With the election of Eisenhower and the death of Stalin, he worked for a new summit conference to improve East-West relations; but in April of 1955, ill health and pressure from colleagues forced him to resign. In retirement Churchill completed his acclaimed four-volume History of the English-Speaking Peoples and watched as world conflicts continued, still convinced they could be resolved by statesmanship. &“Never despair&” remained his watchword, and his faith, until the end. &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston S. Churchill: The Prophet of Truth, 1922–1939 (Winston S. Churchill Biography #5)
by Martin GilbertThe &“important and engrossing&” fifth volume of the official Churchill biography chronicles his visionary leadership in the tense years approaching WWII (Foreign Affairs). This acclaimed biographical masterpiece opens with Winston S. Churchill&’s return to Conservatism and to the cabinet in 1924. The narrative unfolds into a vivid and intimate picture of his public life as well as his private world at Chartwell between the wars. With ample access to Churchill&’s private papers, Martin Gilbert strips away decades of accumulated myth and innuendo, showing the stateman&’s true position on India, his precise role (and private thoughts) during the abdication of Edward VIII, his attitude toward Mussolini, and his profound fears for the future of European democracy. Even before Hitler came to power in Germany, Churchill saw the dangers of a Nazi victory. And despite the unpopularity of his views in official circles, he persevered for six years in sounding the alarm against fascism. This book reveals for the first time the extent senior civil servants, and even serving officers of high rank, came to Churchill with secret information, having despaired at the magnitude of official lethargy and obstruction. Within the Air Ministry, the Foreign Office, and the Intelligence Services, individuals felt drawn to provide Churchill with full disclosures of Britain&’s defense weakness, keeping him informed of day-to-day developments from 1934 until the outbreak of war. People of all parties and in all walks of life recognized Churchill&’s unique qualities and demanded his inclusion in the government, believing he alone could give a divided nation guidance and inspiration. &“A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement . . . rightly regarded as the most comprehensive life ever written of any age.&” —Andrew Roberts, historian and author of The Storm of War &“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.&” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Winston’s War: Churchill, 1940–1945
by Max HastingsWith unparalleled insight, Hastings presents a vivid and incisive portrait of Winston Churchill, bringing to life the man and his complexities, from his courage in the face of certain defeat to his shortcomings and private anxieties.
Winter (Seasons Quartet Ser. #2)
by Karl Ove KnausgaardThe second volume in his autobiographical quartet based on the seasons, Winter is an achingly beautiful collection of daily meditations and letters addressed directly to Knaugsaard's unborn daughter 2 December - It is strange that you exist, but that you don't know anything about what the world looks like. It's strange that there is a first time to see the sky, a first time to see the sun, a first time to feel the air against one's skin. It's strange that there is a first time to see a face, a tree, a lamp, pajamas, a shoe. In my life it almost never happens anymore. But soon it will. In just a few months, I will see you for the first time. In Winter, we rejoin the great Karl Ove Knausgaard as he waits for the birth of his daughter. In preparation for her arrival, he takes stock of the world, seeing it as if for the first time. In his inimitably sensitive style, he writes about the moon, water, messiness, owls, birthdays--to name just a handful of his subjects. These oh-so-familiar objects and ideas he fills with new meaning, taking nothing for granted or as given. New life is on the horizon, but the earth is also in hibernation, waiting for the warmer weather to return, and so a contradictory melancholy inflects his gaze. Startling, compassionate, and exquisitely beautiful, Knausgaard's writing is like nothing else. Somehow, he shows the world as it really is, at once mundane and sublime.
Winter
by Karl Ove Knausgaard Lars LerinWinter, written to introduce his youngest daughter to the wonders of life, is one of the most profoundly moving and beautiful of Karl Ove Knausgaard's beloved works. While it stands alone for readers, it is also the exquisitely interwoven, second volume of the Seasons quartet--his new landmark literary project: written by a father to his unborn child.It is strange that you exist, but that you don't know anything about what the world looks like. It's strange that there is a first time to see the sky, a first time to see the sun, a first time to feel the air against one's skin. It's strange that there is a first time to see a face, a tree, a lamp, pajamas, a shoe. In my life that almost never happens anymore. But soon it will. In just a few months, I will see you for the first time.Winter is the continuation of Karl Ove Knausgaard's personal encyclopedia and record of the world that will soon make up the close reality of his yet unborn child. Comprising sixty short, surprising, and incredibly rich meditations on everything from the moon to fireworks to aquatic apes, Winter finds Karl Ove waxing philosophically and meaningfully on the big things that hide behind smaller things: the sublimity of bonfires, the strange mechanics of the inner ear, the evolution of our solar system, and the fearsome beauty of the Norse myths.Featuring gorgeous illustrations by award-winning watercolour artist Lars Lerin, with Winter, the Seasons quartet reaches new heights of meditative grandeur--an important and memorable gift for readers from one of the world's most important and beguiling literary artists.
Winter
by Christopher Nicholson“[This] beautifully restrained novel, a meditation on aging, marriage and loss, fictionalizes a well-known period in Thomas Hardy’s life” (The New York Times).A November morning in the 1920s finds an elderly man walking the grounds of his Dorchester home, pondering his past and future with deep despondence. That man is the revered novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, and this is a fictionalized account of his final years from the celebrated author of The Elephant Keeper.The novel focuses on true events surrounding the London theater dramatization of Hardy’s acclaimed novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, including Hardy’s hand-picked casting of the young, alluring Gertrude Bugler to play Tess. As plans for the play solidify, Hardy’s interest in Gertie becomes a voyeuristic infatuation, causing him to write some of the best poems of his career. However, when Hardy’s reclusive, neglected wife, Florence, catches wind of Hardy’s desire for Gertie to take the London stage, a tangled web of jealousy and missed opportunity ensnares all three characters—with devastating results.Told from the perspectives of Hardy, Gertie, and Florence, Winter is “a meditation on love, regret, and an elusive yearning for happiness” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).“A book for grown-ups, one that finds the acme of human happiness in a young mother looking out at a starry winter’s night, while she holds her baby in her arms.” —The Washington Post“Winter is quietly intelligent and compassionate, but what stands out most is that it is gorgeously, gorgeously written in prose so elegantly crafted that it becomes, paradoxically, almost invisible. It never shouts, never startles, just moves lithely along with an almost miraculous sense of rightness.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America
by Ivan DoigA blend of modern-day travel memoir and nineteenth-century history, &“infused with the fresh air and spirit of the Northwest&” (The New York Times Book Review). The author of the acclaimed This House of Sky and Mountain Time provides a magnificent evocation of the Pacific Northwest through his exploration of the unpublished diaries of James Gilchrist Swan, an early settler of the region who was drawn there from Boston in the 1850s. Winter Brothers fuses excerpts from these diaries with author Ivan Doig&’s own journal entries, as he travels in Swan&’s footsteps one winter along the once-wild coastline of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What emerges is a remarkable interaction of two minds, a dialogue across time that links the present with the reality of the American frontier. &“Absorbing . . . A double portrait of striking clarity, yet with wonderfully subtle hues.&” —San Francisco Chronicle
The Winter Crown: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Eleanor of Aquitaine #2)
by Elizabeth ChadwickLeaving France behind to become Queen of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine has a new cast of enemies—including her own husband, in the next book by New York Times bestselling author, Elizabeth ChadwickEver since her marriage to Louis VII of France was annulled, Eleanor has more than fulfilled her duty as Queen of England—she has given her husband, Henry II, heirs to the throne and has proven herself as a mother and ruler. But Eleanor needs more than to be a bearer of children and a deputy; she needs command of the throne.As her children grow older, and her relationship with Henry suffers from scandal and infidelity, Eleanor realizes she must take the crown for herself if she ever wants to become the powerful woman she's destined to be. But even a queen must face the consequences of treason...Chadwick's meticulous research portrays the Middle Ages and Eleanor with depth and vivid imagery unparalleled in historical fiction and captures readers in a web of intrigue they won't want to escape.In the second book in the Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy, a royal marriage where love and hatred are intertwined and a battle for power fraught with deception create a riveting story of medieval fiction sure to mesmerize.The Eleanor of Aquitaine Trilogy:The Summer Queen (Book 1)The Winter Crown (Book 2)The Autumn Throne (Book 3)
Winter In Paradise: Book 1 in NYT-bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand's wonderful Paradise series (Winter in Paradise)
by Elin Hilderbrand'I just LOVE [Elin Hilderbrand's] books, they are such compulsive reads' -Marian KeyesWarm up for winter on a Caribbean beach with New York Times Bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand.Irene Steele's life is idyllic, until it is rocked by a late-night phone call that brings news of her husband's sudden death. Even in the midst of her crippling grief, Irene cannot get one question out of her head: why was his body found on St. John, a tropical Caribbean paradise far removed from their suburban life?Leaving the cold Nantucket winter behind, Irene flies hundreds of miles to get to the island - only to learn that her husband had a secret second family. As she delves deeper into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the man she loved, she is plunged into a web of intrigue and deceit belied by the pristine white sandy beaches of St. John's. ************** Praise for Elin Hilderbrand: 'Oozes plenty of drama' - Heat 'A page turner' - Coastal Living 'Her imagination is endless' - Book Reporter(P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
by Garry KasparovThe ascension of Vladimir Putin--a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB--to the presidency of Russia in 1999 should have been a signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years--as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him--Putin has grown not only into a dictator but a global threat. With his vast resources and nuclear weapons, Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty. For Garry Kasparov, none of this is news. He has been a vocal critic of Putin for over a decade, even leading the pro-democracy opposition to him in the farcical 2008 Presidential election. Yet years of seeing his Cassandra-like prophecies about Putin's intentions fulfilled have left Kasparov with the realization of a darker truth: Putin's Russia, like ISIS or Al Qaeda, defines itself in opposition to the free countries of the world. He is still fighting the Cold War, even as Americans have first moved beyond it, and over time, forgotten its lessons. Lest we be drawn into another prolonged conflict, Kasparov now urges a forceful stand--diplomatic and economic--against him. For as long as the world's powerful democracies continue to recognize and negotiate with Putin, he can maintain credibility in his home country. He faces few strong enemies within his country, so meaningful opposition must come from abroad. Argued with the force of Kasparov's world-class intelligence, conviction, and hopes for his home country, Winter is Coming is an unmistakable call to action against a threat we've ignored for too long.
Winter Journal
by Paul AusterFacing his sixty-forth winter, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster decides to write a journal as he sees himself aging in ways he never imagined. Compellingly written, and with dreamlike logic and urgency, the autobiographical fragments and meditations produce an extraordinary mosaic of a life. Weaving together vividly detailed stories, Auster illuminates how each small incident comes to signify a whole. Also, there are two recurring moments: one of bodily terror -- his panic attack following his mother's death in 2002; the other of joy -- his experience watching a dance piece in 1978 which releases him from writer's block just prior to his father's death. It was his father's death that began his first equally unconvential and internationally celebrated memoir, The Invention of Solitude, published thirty years ago. Now, Auster has included an unforgettable portrait of his mother. Winter Journal is a surprising and moving meditation on time, the body, the weight of memory, a long and fulfilling marriage (with author Siri Hustvedt), and language itself by one of the most interesting and elegant writers writing today, and one with a devoted following.
Winter Journal
by Paul AusterFrom the bestselling novelist and author of "The Invention of Solitude," a moving and highly personal meditation on the body, time, and language itself.
Winter King: Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by Thomas PennIt was 1501. England had been ravaged for decades by conspiracy, violence, murders, coups and countercoups. Through luck, guile and ruthlessness, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor kings, had clambered to the top of the heap--a fugitive with a flimsy claim to England's throne. For many he remained a usurper, a false king. But Henry had a crucial asset: his queen and their children, the living embodiment of his hoped-for dynasty. Queen Elizabeth was a member of the House of York. Henry himself was from the House of Lancaster, so between them they united the warring parties that had fought the bloody century-long Wars of the Roses. Now their older son, Arthur, was about to marry a Spanish princess. On a cold November day sixteen-year-old Catherine of Aragon arrived in London for a wedding that would mark a triumphal moment in Henry's reign. In this remarkable book, Thomas Penn re-creates the story of the tragic, magnetic Henry VII--a controlling, paranoid, avaricious monarch who was entering the most perilous years of his long reign. Rich with drama and insight, Winter King is an astonishing story of pageantry, treachery, intrigue and incident--and the fraught, dangerous birth of Tudor England.
Winter of Frozen Dreams: The Shocking True Story of Seduction, Suspicion, and Murder in Madison
by Karl HarterThe true story of Barbara Hoffman is a tale of money, men, and the Madison, Wisconsin, massage parlor where a biochemistry major turned into a murderer. On a freezing Christmas morning, a distraught young man named Gerald Davies led Madison police to Tomahawk Ridge, where they found the body of Harold Berge, naked, bloody, and beaten. Davies insisted that he hadn&’t killed the man, but that he and his fiancée had simply buried the corpse in a snowbank. The investigation confirmed that the victim had died in the apartment of Barbara Hoffman—a young woman who had dropped out of the University of Wisconsin and had worked at Jan&’s Health Studio, a local massage parlor. She and Davies, whom she met at Jan&’s, had recently become engaged. The circumstances were suspicious already. But when the police discovered that Berge was Hoffman&’s ex-lover, that he had signed over his house and an insurance policy to her—and that Davies had also made her his beneficiary—they began to suspect that Davies might also be in danger . . . The police kept him under watch, but eventually had to stop surveillance. Soon after, Davies turned up dead in his bathtub, a Valium bottle nearby, in an apparent suicide. But, an accomplished student of chemistry, Hoffman knew how tricky it could be to detect cyanide poisoning. It would take a dedicated effort by detectives to sort out the truth about the highly intelligent masseuse, her work in the shadowy local sex trade, and the real circumstances that led two of her clients to their deaths. Winter of Frozen Dreams is the full story of the case that would become a sensational televised trial and inspire a film of the same name starring Thora Birch. It&’s a &“snappy read&” by an author with a &“talent for sleuthy description and psychological insight&” (Kirkus Reviews).
The Winter of Our Disconnect
by Susan MaushartFor any parent who's ever IM-ed their child to the dinner table - or yanked the modem from its socket in a show of primal parental rage - this account of one family's self-imposed exile from the Information Age will leave you ROFLing with recognition. But it will also challenge you to take stock of your own family connections, to create a media ecology that encourages kids - and parents - to thrive. When journalist and commentator Susan Maushart first decided to pull the plug on all electronic media at home, she realised her children would have sooner volunteered to go without food, water or hair products. At ages 14, 15 and 18, her daughters and son didn't use media. They inhabited media. Just exactly as fish inhabit a pond. Gracefully. Unblinkingly. And utterly without consciousness or curiosity as to how they got there. Susan's experiment with her family was a major success and she found that having less to communicate with, her family is communicating more. At the simplest level, The Winter of Our Disconnect is the story of how one family survived six months of wandering through the desert, digitally speaking, and the lessons learned about themselves and technology along the way. At the same time, their story is a channel to a wider view - into the impact of new media on the lives of families, into the very heart of the meaning of home.
The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great
by Eva StachniakFrom award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that illuminates, as only fiction can, the early life of one of history’s boldest women. The Winter Palacetells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power—as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne. Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen—and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears. What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie’s confidante—and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power. With dazzling details and intense drama, Eva Stachniak depicts Varvara’s secret alliance with Catherine as the princess grows into a legend—through an enforced marriage, illicit seductions, and, at last, the shocking coup to assume the throne of all of Russia. Impeccably researched and magnificently written,The Winter Palaceis an irresistible peek through the keyhole of one of history’s grandest tales.
Winter Pasture: One Woman's Journey with China's Kazakh Herders
by Li Juan"Deeply moving...full of humor, introspection and glimpses into a vanishing lifestyle." --The New York Times Book ReviewWinner of the People's Literature Award, WINTER PASTURE has been a bestselling book in China for several years. Li Juan has been widely lauded in the international literary community for her unique contribution to the narrative non-fiction genre. WINTER PASTURE is her crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir.Li Juan and her mother own a small convenience store in the Altai Mountains in Northwestern China, where she writes about her life among grasslands and snowy peaks. To her neighbors' surprise, Li decides to join a family of Kazakh herders as they take their 30 boisterous camels, 500 sheep and over 100 cattle and horses to pasture for the winter. The so-called "winter pasture" occurs in a remote region that stretches from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains. As she journeys across the vast, seemingly endless sand dunes, she helps herd sheep, rides horses, chases after camels, builds an underground home using manure, gathers snow for water, and more. With a keen eye for the understated elegance of the natural world, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, Li vividly captures both the extraordinary hardships and the ordinary preoccupations of the day-to-day of the men and women struggling to get by in this desolate landscape. Her companions include Cuma, the often drunk but mostly responsible father; his teenage daughter, Kama, who feels the burden of the world on her shoulders and dreams of going to college; his reticent wife, a paragon of decorum against all odds, who is simply known as "sister-in-law."In bringing this faraway world to English language readers here for the first time, Li creates an intimate bond with the rugged people, the remote places and the nomadic lifestyle. In the signature style that made her an international sensation, Li Juan transcends the travel memoir genre to deliver an indelible and immersive reading experience on every page.
Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army (Stackpole Military History Series)
by Hans WijersA compilation of first-person accounts from German soldiers on their experiences at the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II, featuring rare photos. Real battles. Real Soldiers. Real stories. By the fall of 1942, the battle for Stalingrad had become a fight for every street and building, and nowhere was the struggle more intense than in the bombed-out factories in the northern half of the city. There, amidst crumbled stone and twisted steel, German soldiers fought from room to room against a Soviet enemy who appeared never to tire. Meanwhile, Soviet offenses outside Stalingrad had trapped the German 6th Army inside the city. Erich von Manstein attempted to break through and relieve the encircled army, but to no avail. Both stories—the fierce battle for the factories and Manstein&’s relief effort—are told here in the words of the men who were there.
The Winter Sun Shines In: A Life of Masaoka Shiki (Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture)
by Donald KeeneRather than resist the vast social and cultural changes sweeping Japan in the nineteenth century, the poet Masaoka Shiki (1867–1902) instead incorporated new Western influences into his country's native haiku and tanka verse. By reinvigorating these traditional forms, Shiki released them from outdated conventions and made them more responsive to newer trends in artistic expression. Altogether, his reforms made the haiku Japan's most influential modern cultural export.Using extensive readings of Shiki's own writings and accounts of the poet by his contemporaries and family, Donald Keene charts Shiki's revolutionary (and often contradictory) experiments with haiku and tanka, a dynamic process that made the survival of these traditional genres possible in a globalizing world. Keene particularly highlights random incidents and encounters in his impressionistic portrait of this tragically young life, moments that elicited significant shifts and discoveries in Shiki's work. The push and pull of a profoundly changing society is vividly felt in Keene's narrative, which also includes sharp observations of other recognizable characters, such as the famous novelist and critic Natsume Soseki. In addition, Keene reflects on his own personal relationship with Shiki's work, further developing the nuanced, deeply felt dimensions of its power.