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Václav Havel: A Political Tragedy in Six Acts
by John KeaneThis authorized biography of Havel, based on unrestricted access to him, his circle, and even his enemies, is not only the first definitive account of one of the modern world's great moral and political leaders but also a vivid panorama of the tumultuous events of his times. Havel's life, like that of his African counterpart Nelson Mandela, has been shaped and determined by the large political shifts of the twentieth century. Readers will taste the moments of joy, irony, farce, and misfortune through which he has lived, and realize that he has taught the world more about the powerful and the powerless, power-grabbing and power-sharing, than virtually anyone else on the world stage.
Vértigo
by Rigoberta BandiniUna profunda autoficción donde la autora nos muestra de forma intimista lo que se siente al decidir llevar a cabo un cambio de vida. Un relato honesto y fresco sobre la crisis de los treinta. Vértigo es el retrato de una transición vital, de un momento en el que necesité saltar al vacío, como si mi cuerpo supiera la magnitud del cambio que me esperaba al otro lado. En Vértigo tejí las emociones que me invadían y las fui entendiendo hilo a hilo, y me doy cuenta de que siempre son los mismos hilos los que me duelen, los que me satisfacen o los que me enervan. Mis grandes dramas se simplifican a tres colores primarios que se van combinando de formas diferentes. De aquel Vértigo salió este libro y en esa crisis es donde empecé a componer las canciones que me han cambiado la vida. Rigoberta ya es una parte de Paula. Rigoberta siempre ha estado en mí. Rigoberta somosun poco todas. Rigoberta Bandini es el alter ego de Paula Ribó, actriz, cantante, directora dramática y escritora. Es el fenómeno musical más sorprendente de los últimos años.
Víctor Jara: No to Dictatorship (They Said No)
by Bruno DouceyThe only story for young readers of the legendary Chilean songwriter and activist who became a symbol of peace amidst the brutality of Augusto Pinochet's regime.On September 11, 1973, in Santiago de Chile, Augusto Pinochet took power and installed a dictatorship in place of the democratic government of President Salvador Allende. That day Victor Jara, a young songwriter and activist, poet and playwright is arrested and imprisoned with hundreds of other people in the Santiago stadium because of his association with the socialist opposition. His hands, so crucial to playing music, are broken by one of Pinochet's soldiers. He is executed in the stadium days later, but his protest songs will continue to resound to this day, as does his defiance in singing, "Venceremos," We Will Overcome, in the stadium. Pinochet will die at an advanced age without having answered for his crimes that were committed in an effort to crush dissent. But we celebrate the brave and defiant artists and activists like Victor Jara who help us to remember our humanity in the face of oppressive dictatorships.
W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender
by Michaele L. Ferguson Lori Jo MarsoTaking seriously the "W Stands for Women" rhetoric of the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign, the contributors to this collection investigate how "W" stands for women. They argue that George W. Bush has hijacked feminist language toward decidedly antifeminist ends; his use of feminist rhetoric is deeply and problematically connected to a conservative gender ideology. While it is not surprising that conservative views about gender motivate Bush's stance on so-called "women's issues" such as abortion, what is surprising--and what this collection demonstrates--is that a conservative gender ideology also underlies a range of policies that do not appear explicitly related to gender, most notably foreign and domestic policies associated with the post-9/11 security state. Any assessment of the lasting consequences of the Bush presidency requires an understanding of the gender conservatism at its core. In W Stands for Women ten feminist scholars analyze various aspects of Bush's persona, language, and policy to show how his administration has shaped a new politics of gender. One contributor points out the shortcomings of "compassionate conservatism," a political philosophy that requires a weaker class to be the subject of compassion. Another examines Lynndie England's participation in the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in relation to the interrogation practices elaborated in the Army Field Manual, practices that often entail "feminizing" detainees by stripping them of their masculine gender identities. Whether investigating the ways that Bush himself performs masculinity or the problems with discourse that positions non-Western women as supplicants in need of saving, these essays highlight the far-reaching consequences of the Bush administration's conflation of feminist rhetoric, conservative gender ideology, and neoconservative national security policy. Contributors. Andrew Feffer, Michaele L. Ferguson, David S. Gutterman, Mary Hawkesworth, Timothy Kaufman-Osborn, Lori Jo Marso, Danielle Regan, R. Claire Snyder, Iris Marion Young, Karen Zivi Michaela Ferguson and Karen Zivi appeared on KPFA's Against the Grain on September 11, 2007. Listen to the audio. Michaela Ferguson and Lori Jo Marso appeared on WUNC's The State of Things on August 30, 2007. Listen to the audio.
W, or The Memory of Childhood
by Georges PerecCombining fiction and autobiography in a quite unprecedented way, Georges Perec leads the reader inexorably towards the horror that lies at the origin of the post-World War Two world and at the crux of his own identity. Translated by David Bellos
W-3: A Memoir
by Bette HowlandOriginally published in 1974 and now republished with a new introduction in 2021 by Yiyun Li, this is the account of a brilliant mind on the brink. In 1968, Bette Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and laboring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, she swallowed a bottle of pills. W-3 is both an extraordinary portrait of the community of Ward 3, the psychiatric wing of the Chicago hospital where she was admitted; and the record of a defining moment in a writer's life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave. This memoir that launched Bette Howland's career ("moving and heroically funny"--New York Times) is available once again for a new generation to discover. BETTE HOWLAND (1937-2017) was born in Chicago. She was the author of three books: W-3, Blue in Chicago, and Things to Come and Go. She received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1984, after which she did not publish another book. A posthumous collection of her stories, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, is also available from A Public Space Books. Saul Bellow called her "One of the significant writers of her generation."
W. Arthur Lewis and the Birth of Development Economics (Princeton Legacy Library)
by Robert L. TignorW. Arthur Lewis was one of the foremost intellectuals, economists, and political activists of the twentieth century. In this book, the first intellectual biography of Lewis, Robert Tignor traces Lewis's life from its beginnings on the small island of St. Lucia to Lewis's arrival at Princeton University in the early 1960s. A chronicle of Lewis's unfailing efforts to promote racial justice and decolonization, it provides a history of development economics as seen through the life of one of its most important founders.If there were a record for the number of "firsts" achieved by one man during his lifetime, Lewis would be a contender. He was the first black professor in a British university and also at Princeton University and the first person of African descent to win a Nobel Prize in a field other than literature or peace. His writings, which included his book The Theory of Economic Growth, were among the first to describe the field of development economics.Quickly gaining the attention of the leadership of colonized territories, he helped develop blueprints for the changing relationship between the former colonies and their former rulers. He made significant contributions to Ghana's quest for economic growth and the West Indies' desire to create a first-class institution of higher learning serving all of the Anglophone territories in the Caribbean.This book, based on Lewis's personal papers, provides a new view of this renowned economist and his impact on economic growth in the twentieth century. It will intrigue not only students of development economics but also anyone interested in colonialism and decolonization, and justice for the poor in third-world countries.
W. C. Handy: The Life and Times of the Man Who Made the Blues
by David RobertsonBefore there was Elvis, there was W. C. Handy, "the man who made the blues. " Here is the first major biography in decades of the man who produced iconic songs and who was responsible, more than any other musician, for bringing the blues into the American mainstream.
W. E. B Du Bois
by Tonya BoldenWilliam Edward Burghardt Du Bois, perhaps best known for his seminal work The Souls of Black Folk and as the founding editor of the NAACP's groundbreaking magazine The Crisis, was ever a soul in motion for justice. Whether he was protesting Jim Crow laws and lynch mobs in the Deep South, advocating for the end of European Colonialism, or campaigning for world peace, Du Bois was always speaking out for others. This fascinating Up Close biography by award-winning author Tonya Bolden tells the story of how one man-tirelessly and never quietly- fought for equality until his death at age ninety-five.
W. E. B. Du Bois Speaks: Speeches and Addresses, 1920-1963 (Vol #2)
by W. E. B. Du Bois Kwame Nkrumah Philip S. FonerPioneer for the struggle for Afro-American liberation and for African liberation, prolific Black scholar, W.E.B. Du Bois is one of the giants of the twentieth century. Yet until very recently his contributions have been largely ignored. Today a growing number of Black and white scholars and students are reading and re-reading many of Du Bois's works and increasingly appreciating his contributions towards advancing the modern civil rights movement and the achievement of African independence. This volume the second of a two-volume collection is devoted to his speeches from 1920 to his death in 1963. The first volume covers the period of his earliest speeches in the 1890s to the close of the First World War. Nearly all of the speeches in these two volumes have never before been published in book form. W.E.B. Du Bois Speaks covers the full range of issues involving Black Americans from the era of slavery to the contemporary period. In these speeches, Du Bois set forth clearly and in his usual magnificent prose the various strategies in the Black liberation struggle. But as a profound believer in socialism and internationalism, he also made it clear that this struggle was linked with the interests of all who lived in the United States, regardless of color. An anti-imperialist from his youth, Du Bois repeatedly emphasizes in his speeches the need for all Americans to unite in the struggle against colonialism and for peace. Each speech is preceded by a brief description of the circumstances under which it was delivered and there are explanatory notes by the editor throughout the volume.
W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet
by Edward J. BlumPioneering historian, sociologist, editor, novelist, poet, and organizer, W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the foremost African American intellectuals of the twentieth century. While Du Bois is remembered for his monumental contributions to scholarship and civil rights activism, the spiritual aspects of his work have been misunderstood, even negated. W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet, the first religious biography of this leader, illuminates the spirituality that is essential to understanding his efforts and achievements in the political and intellectual world.Often labeled an atheist, Du Bois was in fact deeply and creatively involved with religion. Historian Edward J. Blum reveals how spirituality was central to Du Bois's approach to Marxism, pan-Africanism, and nuclear disarmament, his support for black churches, and his reckoning of the spiritual wage of white supremacy. His writings, teachings, and prayers served as articles of faith for fellow activists of his day, from student book club members to Langston Hughes.A blend of history, sociology, literary criticism, and religious reflection in the model of Du Bois's best work, W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet recasts the life of this great visionary and intellectual for a new generation of scholars and activists.Honorable Mention, 2007 Gustavus Myers Center Outstanding Book Awards
W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography
by Gerald C. HorneHorne, an authority on W. E. B. Du Bois, offers a biography of the American scholar, historian, and activist who founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The biography covers his youth, education, career, and personal life, up to his final years in Ghana, and looks into his influence on other leading civil rights activists, including Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King, and Jesse Jackson. The book includes a brief timeline and b&w historical photos. Horne is chair of history and African American studies at the University of Houston. He has written numerous books on history and on Du Bois. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography
by Virginia HamiltonThis American Negro leader, author, and sociologist spent his life fighting for the rights of blacks everywhere.
W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919
by David Levering LewisA definitive biography of the African-American author and scholar describes Du Bois's formative years, the evolution of his philosophy, and his roles as a founder of the NAACP and architect of the American civil rights movement. <P><P> <P><b>Pulitzer Prize Winner</b>
W. E. B. DuBois: Scholar and Civil Rights Activist
by Melissa McdanielExamines the life of the African-American scholar and leader who helped establish the NAACP and devoted his life to gaining equality for his people.
W. E. B. Dubois (American Lives)
by Jennifer Blizin GillisW. E. B. Du Bois spent most of his long life fighting for equal rights for African Americans. Can you imagine what his life must have been like? What was he like as a person? Read this book in order to get to know W. E. B. <P> Du Bois and find out how he tried to make life better for himself and other Americans.
W. H. Auden
by Alan LevyW. H. Auden takes you to Auden's home in Austria to ask him questions; the conversation on the lawn that one dreams of. A fine tribute." --Bestseller
W.A. Mackintosh
by Hugh GrantW.A. Mackintosh (1895-1970) was an exemplary public intellectual and a modest person of rare abilities. In the first biography of this influential economist, Hugh Grant addresses how Mackintosh's commitment to public service and to the principles of reason and tolerance shaped his contribution to economic scholarship, government policy, and university governance. In the 1920s and '30s, Mackintosh emerged as the country's leading economist. His most notable contribution was through his "co-discovery" with Harold Innis of the staple thesis of Canadian economic development, which informed research in the field for a generation. During the Second World War Mackintosh joined the Department of Finance, where he played a central role in the successful management of the wartime economy and in Canada's adoption of Keynesian economic policy. As the author of the federal government's 1945 White Paper, Mackintosh laid out the broad strokes of Canada's adherence to Keynesianism in the post-war period. After his return to Queen's, Mackintosh would become the university's fifteenth principal and guide the institution as it prepared for the transformation of Canadian universities. A remarkable man who had a profound influence on the development of modern Canada, this definitive biography restores the record on his important contributions to Canadian economic thought and national and international finance.
W.A. Mackintosh: The Life of a Canadian Economist (Carleton Library Series)
by Hugh GrantW.A. Mackintosh (1895-1970) was an exemplary public intellectual and a modest person of rare abilities. In the first biography of this influential economist, Hugh Grant addresses how Mackintosh's commitment to public service and to the principles of reason and tolerance shaped his contribution to economic scholarship, government policy, and university governance. In the 1920s and '30s, Mackintosh emerged as the country's leading economist. His most notable contribution was through his "co-discovery" with Harold Innis of the staple thesis of Canadian economic development, which informed research in the field for a generation. During the Second World War Mackintosh joined the Department of Finance, where he played a central role in the successful management of the wartime economy and in Canada's adoption of Keynesian economic policy. As the author of the federal government's 1945 White Paper, Mackintosh laid out the broad strokes of Canada's adherence to Keynesianism in the post-war period. After his return to Queen's, Mackintosh would become the university's fifteenth principal and guide the institution as it prepared for the transformation of Canadian universities. A remarkable man who had a profound influence on the development of modern Canada, this definitive biography restores the record on his important contributions to Canadian economic thought and national and international finance.
W.A.R.: The Unauthorized Biography of William Axl Rose
by Mike WallA biography that “captures the runaway-train spirit” of Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose and delves into what shaped him as a man and a musician (Kirkus Reviews).Even in the world of rock and roll, someone like Axl Rose doesn’t come along very often. Mercurial and brilliant, deluded and imperious, Rose defies easy description or analysis. Few people have studied Rose as closely as Mick Wall has. Traveling with Guns N’ Roses and writing about them in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wall first earned Axl’s trust and later his fury.W.A.R. goes back to the beginning, revealing Rose’s childhood influences (and how he got his name), and tracking the birth of the band and their enormous success with albums like Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion. With fame and money came substance abuse and infighting, and a lead singer who morphed from eccentric to seemingly unhinged.Wall’s book is richly detailed and offers surprising new views of a variety of Guns N’ Roses and Axl Rose incidents, including the death of two fans at a concert in England; Rose’s eventual split from every one of the other original band members; fights with perceived enemies like Kurt Cobain, Motley Crue’s Vince Neil and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger; Rose’s refusal to show up at concerts throughout his career; and his many years as a virtual recluse at his Malibu mansion. W.A.R. is about great music, bad relationships, and the public and private personas of one of the most controversial performers of our time.“The best rock biography that has ever landed on my desk . . . turns the story of Axl Rose . . . into a profound examination of the pain of fame.” —The Tribune (UK)“A catalog of lawsuits, sackings, and all-round appalling behavior.” —The Daily Telegraph (UK)“It’s easy to paint Rose as a wrathful tyrant, but Wall has you sympathizing with [him].” —Entertainment Weekly
W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen
by Arthur Frank WertheimThis book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway's most illustrious revue, the Ziegfeld Follies. As the first biography to use the recently opened Fields Papers at the Motion Picture Academy, the book explores how Fields years as a Follies entertainer portraying a beleaguered husband and a captivating conman became a landmark turning point in his career, leading to his fame as a masterful film comedian. The book also untangles a web of mysteries about Fields's turbulent private life, from the heartrending stories about the tragic relationship with his calculating wife who refused to divorce him, to his estranged son controlled by his mother, to the seven-year extra-marital affair with a chorus girl that led to the birth of an unwanted child. This electrifying saga illuminates a complex dual personality, whirling from tenderness to brusqueness, who endured so much anguish in order to bring the gift of laughter to millions. Although vilified by Ziegfeld and assailed by demons, Fields survived the cutthroat rigors of Broadway show biz to become a legendary American iconoclast and cultural icon.
W.E.B. Du Bois: Civil Rights Activist, Author, Historian
by Jim WhitingW..E.B. Du Bois's mother came from a long line of free blacks living in the North. His great-grandfather was a white plantation owner whose ancestors came from France. Long before the start of the Civil Rights movement, W.E.B. Du Bois worked tirelessly for black people in this country. He was a brilliant student and became the first black man to receive a Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, and later taught at several black colleges. He realized that teaching wasn't enough. For decades, he wrote, gave speeches, formed organizations, and worked hard toward the cause of social justice. W.E.B. became controversial in the last years of his life. He took political positions that many Americans--both black and white--didn't approve of. But he wouldn't back down or change what he believed in. He felt so strongly about his beliefs that in his old age he moved to the African nation of Ghana, whose people loved and admired him.
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963
by David Levering LewisThe second volume of the Pulitzer Prize--winning biography that The Washington Post hailed as "an engrossing masterpiece"<P><P> Charismatic, singularly determined, and controversial, W.E.B. Du Bois was a historian, novelist, editor, sociologist, founder of the NAACP, advocate of women's rights, and the premier architect of the Civil Rights movement. His hypnotic voice thunders out of David Levering Lewis's monumental biography like a locomotive under full steam.<P> This second volume of what is already a classic work begins with the triumphal return from WWI of African American veterans to the shattering reality of racism and lynching even as America discovers the New Negro of literature and art. In stunning detail, Lewis chronicles the little-known political agenda behind the Harlem Renaissance and Du Bois's relentless fight for equality and justice, including his steadfast refusal to allow whites to interpret the aspirations of black America. Seared by the rejection of terrified liberals and the black bourgeoisie during the Communist witch-hunts, Du Bois ended his days in uncompromising exile in newly independent Ghana. In re-creating the turbulent times in which he lived and fought, Lewis restores the inspiring and famed Du Bois to his central place in American history.<P> Pulitzer Prize Winner
W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963
by David Levering LewisW. E. B. Du Bois, 1919-1963, the second volume of the Pulitzer Prize--winning biography that The Washington Post hailed as "an engrossing masterpiece"Charismatic, singularly determined, and controversial, W.E.B. Du Bois was a historian, novelist, editor, sociologist, founder of the NAACP, advocate of women's rights, and the premier architect of the Civil Rights movement. His hypnotic voice thunders out of David Levering Lewis's monumental biography like a locomotive under full steam.This second volume of what is already a classic work begins with the triumphal return from WWI of African American veterans to the shattering reality of racism and lynching even as America discovers the New Negro of literature and art. In stunning detail, Lewis chronicles the little-known political agenda behind the Harlem Renaissance and Du Bois's relentless fight for equality and justice, including his steadfast refusal to allow whites to interpret the aspirations of black America. Seared by the rejection of terrified liberals and the black bourgeoisie during the Communist witch-hunts, Du Bois ended his days in uncompromising exile in newly independent Ghana. In re-creating the turbulent times in which he lived and fought, Lewis restores the inspiring and famed Du Bois to his central place in American history.
WAM: Tales of a Wandering Loon (Inspirational Series)
by Chris YoungAs a kind, chatty, and good-humoured man with a zest for life and a passion for helping people, Chris Young adored his job as a social worker. But things fell apart when, in 2008, he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. His illness brought about the end of his calling and he found himself in need of a new project and purpose.And so it came to be that in 2011, Chris began a campaign called Walk a Mile In my Shoes. He walks around the edge of the UK – the edge of society being where many people with mental health problems feel they are – without spending any money and relying on the kindness of strangers.In 2015, he joined forces with See Me Scotland to distil the success of the coastal walk into a series of events, inviting other people to join him and discuss mental health. He encouraged them to literally walk a mile in each other's shoes. Walk a Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon is the story of how a normal, nurturing childhood turned into one of neglect and abuse and how this, combined with a little faulty brain wiring, led to a severe and enduring mental illness.