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A Confederate Biography: The Cruise Of Css Shenandoah
by Dwight HughesBased primarily on the words of those who lived it, A Confederate Biography is a comprehensive narrative of the cruise of the CSS Shenandoah. More than a thrilling sea story, the journey provides a window of historical perspective on the Civil War. From October 1864 to November 1865, the officers of the Shenandoah carried the Confederacy and the conflict around the globe and to the ends of the earth through every extreme of sea and storm. Their observations looking back from the most remote and alien surroundings imaginable, along with viewpoints of those they encountered, illuminate the hearts and minds of contestants North and South. These Americans stood together in defense of their country as they understood it, pursuing a difficult and dangerous mission in which they succeeded spectacularly after it no longer mattered. Through their eyes, the potentially decisive international arena of the war, governed by complex maritime and trade law, comes alive. The neutrality, or lack thereof, of major European powers was a central concern to both sides. Shenandoah was smack in the middle of this diplomatic maelstrom and contributed to it. And within the navy, a generational clash arose between antebellum orthodoxy and a professional officer corps emerging from the new Naval Academy, rapid technological advances, contemporary social reforms, and the crucible of war. This difference was manifest between the captain of Shenandoah and his young lieutenants. The men they led, however, were a polyglot assemblage of merchant sailors of nearly every nation and color--including several Yankees and African Americans--operating within its own rigidly authoritarian and cramped society. Shenandoah herself was a magnificent vessel, the epitome of rich and ancient maritime heritages, but also a paradigm of dramatic transitions from the small wooden sailing navy to the second largest, most powerful, and technologically advanced fleet in the world. Her commerce raiding mission was a watery form of asymmetric warfare in the spirit of John Mosby, Bedford Forrest, and W. T. Sherman. It was arguably the most successful military effort of the Confederacy in terms of cost versus mission accomplished, but the strategic effectiveness of the strategy remains questionable. Shenandoah fired the last gun of the Civil War, set the land of the midnight sun aglow with flaming Yankee whalers, and, seven months after Appomattox, lowered the last Confederate banner. This is a biography of a ship and a cruise, and a microcosm of the Confederate-American experience.
A Confession and Other Religious Writings
by Leo TolstoyDescribing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. By the time he was fifty, Tolstoy had already written the novels that would assure him of literary immortality; he had a wife, a large estate and numerous children; he was 'a happy man' and in good health - yet life had lost its meaning. In this poignant confessional fragment, he records a period of his life when he began to turn away from fiction and aesthetics, and to search instead for 'a practical religion not promising future bliss, but giving bliss on earth'.
A Connecticut Yankee in Criminal Court
by Peter J. HeckThis is the second book in a series featuring Samuel Clemmens or Mark Twain, if you prefer, as the chief protagonist. Peter Heck began the series with Death on the Mississippi and here takes us to New Orleans where the scion of one of the great families is found poisoned. His cook is arrested and it is up to Clemens to prove him innocent before he is tried and convicted of a crime he did not commit.
A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln's Cabinet: Navy Secretary Gideon Welles Chronicles the Civil War
by Gideon WellesThe U.S. Civil War through the eyes of a key member of President Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet.Gideon Welles, the Connecticut journalist-politician who served as Lincoln’s secretary of the navy, was not only an architect of Union victory but also a shrewd observer of people, issues, and events. Fortunately for posterity, he recorded many of his observations in his extensive diary. A Connecticut Yankee in Lincoln’s Cabinet brings together 250 of the most important and interesting excerpts from the diary, dealing with topics as varied as the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Marine Band’s concerts in Washington’s Lafayette Square, Lincoln’s sense of humor, rivalries among cabinet members, Welles’s often caustic opinions of prominent politicians and military leaders, demands for creation of a navy yard in his home state, the challenge of blockading 3,500 miles of Confederate coastline, the struggle against rebel commerce raiders, the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, the Fort Pillow massacre of African American troops, and Lincoln’s assassination. Together, the excerpts provide a candid insider’s view of the Civil War as it unfolded, and an introduction provides the reader with context. Published by the Acorn Club.
A Conrad Chronology
by Owen KnowlesThis chronology is designed to provide a digest of Conrad's life as it develops from year to year. It is written as a series of diary or chronicle entries and thus caters for the reader who may wish to check a single fact. The main contents are supplemented by a Who's Who and indexes which provide easy access to a wider range of information.
A Consequential President: The Legacy of Barack Obama
by Michael D'AntonioBarack Obama was once a most unlikely candidate, but his successful campaign for the White House made him a worldwide sensation and a transformative figure even before he was inaugurated. Elected as the Iraq War and the Great Recession had discouraged millions of Americans, Obama made a promise of hope that revived the national spirit. Soon after he occupied the White House, Congress approved his economic-recovery act and his program to save the U.S. auto industry. Both worked better than any observer predicted, and together they powered a recovery that has seen growth return and unemployment reduced to below five percent. Today the American economy is again the most vibrant in the world and its recovery has far outpaced Western Europe's. Had he only saved the U.S. economy, Barack Obama would be considered a truly successful president. However, he has achieved so much more, against ferocious opposition---including some who challenged his claim to being an American citizen---that he can be counted as one of the most consequential presidents in history. With health care reform he ended a long-running crisis of escalating costs and inadequate access of treatment that threatened the well-being of 50 million people. His energy policies drove down the cost of power generated by the sun, the wind, and even fossil fuels. His efforts on climate change produced the first treaty to address global warming in a meaningful way---the Paris Agreement---and his diplomacy produced a dramatic reduction in the nuclear threat posed by Iran. Add the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, the normalization of relations with Cuba, and his “pivot” toward Asia, and Obama's successes abroad match those at home.In A Consequential President, Michael D'Antonio tallies President Obama’s long record of achievement, recalling both his major successes and less-noticed ones that nevertheless contribute to his legacy. The record includes Obama's role as a inspirational leader who was required to navigate race relations as the first black president and had to function in an atmosphere that included both racial acrimony from his critics and unfair expectations among supporters. In light of these conditions, Obama's greatest achievement came as he restored dignity and ethics to the office of the president, and serve as proof that he has delivered the hope and the change he promised eight years before.
A Conservative Environmentalist: The Life and Career of Frank Masland Jr.
by Thomas G. SmithA wealthy textile titan from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Frank Masland Jr. was an ardent political conservative and an equally fervent conservationist who was well known and highly respected in the mid-twentieth-century environmental preservation community. This eye-opening biography charts Masland’s life work, telling the story of how he and fellow Republicans worked with Democrats to expand the national park system, preserve wild country, and protect the environment. Though a conservative conservationist appears to be a contradiction in terms today, this was not necessarily the case when Masland and his compatriots held sway. Conservatives, Masland insisted, had a duty to be good stewards of the earth for present and future generations, and they worked closely with members of both parties in Congress and nonpolitical conservation groups to produce landmark achievements. When conservatives turned against environmentalism during the Reagan presidency, Masland refused to join what historians have termed the “Republican reversal.” During his long life of nearly a hundred years, Masland used his voice, influence, experiences with nature, and considerable wealth to champion environmental causes at the national, state, and local levels. Engaging, informative, and at times eyebrow-raising, this portrait of a passionately anti-statist nature-loving Republican environmentalist documents the history of the twentieth-century conservation movement and reminds us of a time when conservative Republicans could work with liberal Democrats to protect the environment.
A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism
by Edward H. MillerThe first full-scale biography of Robert Welch, who founded the John Birch Society and planted some of modern conservatism’s most insidious seeds. Though you may not know his name, Robert Welch (1899-1985)—founder of the John Birch Society—is easily one of the most significant architects of our current political moment. In A Conspiratorial Life, the first full-scale biography of Welch, Edward H. Miller delves deep into the life of an overlooked figure whose ideas nevertheless reshaped the American right. A child prodigy who entered college at age 12, Welch became an unlikely candy magnate, founding the company that created Sugar Daddies, Junior Mints, and other famed confections. In 1958, he funneled his wealth into establishing the organization that would define his legacy and change the face of American politics: the John Birch Society. Though the group’s paranoiac right-wing nativism was dismissed by conservative thinkers like William F. Buckley, its ideas gradually moved from the far-right fringe into the mainstream. By exploring the development of Welch’s political worldview, A Conspiratorial Life shows how the John Birch Society’s rabid libertarianism—and its highly effective grassroots networking—became a profound, yet often ignored or derided influence on the modern Republican Party. Miller convincingly connects the accusatory conservatism of the midcentury John Birch Society to the inflammatory rhetoric of the Tea Party, the Trump administration, Q, and more. As this book makes clear, whether or not you know his name or what he accomplished, it’s hard to deny that we’re living in Robert Welch’s America.
A Conversation About Happiness: The Story of a Lost Childhood
by Mikey CuddihyOrphaned at the age of nine, Mikey Cuddihy left the U.S. to board at an experimental British school. A vivid and intense memoir of coming of age amidst the unraveling social experiment of the late 1960s.When Mikey Cuddihy was orphaned at the age of nine, her life exploded. She and her siblings were sent from New York to board at experimental Summerhill School, in England, and abandoned there. The setting was idyllic, lessons were optional, pupils made the rules. Joan Baez visited and taught Mikey guitar. The late sixties were in full swing, but with total freedom came danger. Mikey navigated this strange world of permissiveness and neglect, forging an identity almost in defiance of it.
A Conversation with Ernest Mandel: Early Life and Late Politics
by Ernest Mandel Ali TariqAn interview with leading Marxist economist and historian Ernest MandelErnest Mandel was one of the leading Marxist intellectuals of the 20th century. His impact on the generation of the Sixties extended way beyond his political affiliation to the Fourth International. The SDS in Germany and its US equivalent read his work avidly. In France, too, all his key writings were published and debated. His pamphlet 'An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory' sold a quarter of a million copies worldwide and his master-work Late Capitalism (published by Verso) was debated on every continent.This interview with Tariq Ali was conducted in 1987. The plan was to make a 90-minute film on his life and work, but the project faltered and the interview is one of the few remnants. Mandel's rediscovery is overdue.
A Conversation with the Mann
by John RidleyAn evocative novel of an aspiring black comics rise to near-fame and fortune during the Rat Pack era, by the author of Everybody Smokes in Hell and Stray Dogs. What do you want? I want the Ed Sullivan Show. At the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, like a lot of black Americans, comedian Jackie Mann wanted to be somebody. And for him there was only one way to achieve that: to make it big. Make it, no matter the cost: friends, family, one's own self-esteem and self-respect. This is the story of a young man's journey from Harlem to stardom, a story of Hollywood royalty, New York glitterati, Vegas Mafiosi, Northern bigotry, and Southern racism. This is a story of love, honor, betrayal, and redemption; of fame bought and paid for by any means necessary. It is the story of one man's desire and an entire race's demands, and the incredible moment when the two came together as one. This is the story of Jackie Mann.
A Cook's Book: The Essential Nigel Slater [A Cookbook]
by Nigel SlaterThe beloved author of Eat and Tender presents 150 satisfying and comforting recipes based on his favorite childhood food memories and culinary inspirations, accompanied by reflective personal essays.A collection of more than 150 delicious, easy, and gratifying plant-based and meat recipes, A Cook&’s Book is the story of famed food writer Nigel Slater&’s life in the kitchen. He charms readers with the tales behind the recipes, recalling the first time he ate a sublime baguette in Paris and the joy of his first slice of buttercream-topped chocolate cake.From the first jam tart he made with his mum, standing on a chair trying to reach his family's classic Aga stove, through learning how to cook on his own and developing his most well-known and beloved recipes, readers will be delighted by the origin stories behind Slater's work. Slater writes eloquently about how his cooking has changed, from discovering the trick to the perfect whipped cream to the best way to roast a chicken. These are Nigel Slater's go-to recipes, the heart and soul of his simple and flavorful cooking. Chapters include:A Bowl of Soup: Pumpkin Laksa, Spicy Red Lentil Soup, Pea and Parsley SoupBreaking Bread: Soft Rolls with Feta and Rosemary, Blackcurrant Focaccia, Large Sourdough LoafEveryday Greens: Cheesy Greens and Potatoes, Spiced Zucchini with Spinach, Herb Pancakes with MushroomEveryday Dinners: Beet and Lamb Patties, Pork and Lemon Meatballs, Mussels, Coconut, and NoodlesA Slice of Tart: Mushroom and Dill Tart, A Tart of Leeks and Cheddar, Blackcurrant Macaroon TartThis is by far Slater's most personal book yet, and with gorgeous photography featuring Slater in his London home and garden, readers get a peek at his inspirations, motivations, and thoughts on the food world today.
A Cool and Lonely Courage: The Untold Story of Sister Spies in Occupied France
by Susan OttawayThe incredible true story of British special agents Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne, sisters who risked everything to fight for freedom during the Second World War. When elderly recluse Eileen Nearne died, few suspected that the quiet little old lady was a decorated WWII war hero. Volunteering to serve for British intelligence at age 21, Eileen was posted to Nazi-occupied France to send encoded messages of crucial importance for the Allies, until her capture by the Gestapo.Eileen was not the only agent in her family---her sister Jacqueline was a courier for the French resistance. While Jacqueline narrowly avoided arrest, Eileen was tortured by the Nazis, then sent to the infamous Ravensbrück women's concentration camp. Astonishingly, this resourceful young woman eventually escaped her captors and found her way to the advancing American army.In this amazing true story of triumph and tragedy, Susan Ottaway unveils the secret lives of two sisters who sacrificed themselves to defend their country.**Includes a Reading Group Guide exclusive to this edition.**
A Cop's Life: True Stories from Behind the Badge
by Randy SuttonAfter September 11, 2001 Las Vegas Police Sergeant Randy Sutton began soliciting writing from law enforcement officers-his goal being to bridge the gap between the police and those they serve, with a book that offers a broad and thoughtful look at the many facets of police life. Hundreds of active and former officers responded from all over the United States: men and women from big cities and small towns, some who had written professionally, but most for the first time. Sutton culled the selections into five categories: The Beat, Line of Duty, War Stories, Officer Down, and Ground Zero. The result is True Blue, a collection of funny, charming, exciting, haunting stories about murder investigations, missing children, bungling burglars, car chases, lonely and desperate shut-ins, routine traffic stops, officers killed in the line of duty, and the life-changing events of September 11. Here, officers reveal their emotions-fear and pride, joy and disgust, shame and love-as they recount the defining moments of their careers. In these stories, the heart and soul behind the badge shines through in unexpected ways. True Blue will change the way we think about the deeply human realm of police service.
A Corpse in the well
by Arjun DangleA Corpse in the well is an anthology of Dalit autobiographies by the following: Shankar Rao Kharat, Daya Pawar, Shanta Bai Kamble, Kumud Pawde, Sharan Kumar Limbale, Dadasahed More and P.E Sonkamble.
A Cotswold Family Life: heart-warming stories of the countryside from the bestselling author
by Clare MackintoshDon't miss the powerful and page-turning new novel from Clare Mackintosh - AFTER THE END is out now___________From bestselling author Clare Mackintosh, A Cotswold Family Life is a humorous, warm memoir of family life in the countryside'Insightful, funny, absorbing' Prue Leith'Original yet totally recognisable' Katie Fforde'Sheer bliss!' Jill Mansell'Heartfelt and poignant' Sunday ExpressI have always loved the Cotswolds. I think I loved them even before I found them, in that half-formed ideal one has of where to put down roots. Somewhere peaceful, green, where the road meanders between drystone walls and from town to town, and a strip of blue bursts from brook to river and back again. For 8 years, Clare Mackintosh wrote for Cotswold Life about the ups and downs of life with a young family in the countryside. In this memoir she brings together all of those stories - and more - for the first time. From keeping chickens to getting the WI drunk, longing for an Aga to dealing with nits, Clare opens the door to family life with warmth and humour and heart.
A Cotswold Family Life: heart-warming stories of the countryside from the bestselling author
by Clare MackintoshDon't miss the powerful and page-turning new novel from Clare Mackintosh - AFTER THE END is out now___________From bestselling author Clare Mackintosh, A Cotswold Family Life is a humorous, warm memoir of family life in the countryside'Insightful, funny, absorbing' Prue Leith'Original yet totally recognisable' Katie Fforde'Sheer bliss!' Jill Mansell'Heartfelt and poignant' Sunday ExpressI have always loved the Cotswolds. I think I loved them even before I found them, in that half-formed ideal one has of where to put down roots. Somewhere peaceful, green, where the road meanders between drystone walls and from town to town, and a strip of blue bursts from brook to river and back again. For 8 years, Clare Mackintosh wrote for Cotswold Life about the ups and downs of life with a young family in the countryside. In this memoir she brings together all of those stories - and more - for the first time. From keeping chickens to getting the WI drunk, longing for an Aga to dealing with nits, Clare opens the door to family life with warmth and humour and heart.
A Cottage in Portugal
by Richard HewittHewitt and his wife after a brief vacation in Portugal decided to live there and enjoy the leisurely life and decent people. They did not realize the nature of the people around who were suspicious about newcomers. Now they live in USA and Portugal.
A Cotton Mather Reader
by Cotton MatherAn authoritative selection of the writings of one of the most important early American writers &“A brilliant collection that reveals the extraordinary range of Cotton Mather&’s interests and contributions—by far the best introduction to the mind of the Puritan divine.&”—Francis J. Bremer, author of Lay Empowerment and the Development of Puritanism Cotton Mather (1663–1728) has a wide presence in American culture, and longtime scholarly interest in him is increasing as more of his previously unpublished writings are made available. This reader serves as an introduction to the man and to his huge body of published and unpublished works.
A Country Between: Making a Home Where Both Sides of Jerusalem Collide
by Stephanie Saldaña"Behind every dark moment, there is another hidden world. The trick is to hold out long enough to make it there."When American writer Stephanie Saldaña finds herself in an empty house at the beginning of Nablus Road, the dividing line between East and West Jerusalem, she is a new wife trying to navigate a fragile terrain, both within her marriage and throughout the country in which she has chosen to live.Pregnant with her first child, Stephanie struggles to protect her family, their faith, and herself from the cracks of Middle Eastern conflict that threaten to shatter the world around her. But as her due date approaches, she must reconcile herself with her choice to bring a child into a dangerous world. Determined to piece together life from the brokenness, she sets out to uncover small instances of beauty to balance the delicate coexistence between love, motherhood, and a country so often at war.In an urban valley in Jerusalem, A Country Between captures the fragile ecosystem of the Middle East and the difficult first years of motherhood in the midst of a conflict-torn city. What unfolds is a celebration of faith, language, family, and love that fills the space between what was shattered, leaving us whole once more.
A Country Doctor's Notebook
by Mikhail Bulgakov Michael GlennyPart autobiography, part fiction, this early work by the author of The Master and Margarita shows a master at the dawn of his craft, and a nation divided by centuries of unequal progress.In 1916 a 25-year-old, newly qualified doctor named Mikhail Bulgakov was posted to the remote Russian countryside. He brought to his position a diploma and a complete lack of field experience. And the challenges he faced didn't end there: he was assigned to cover a vast and sprawling territory that was as yet unvisited by modern conveniences such as the motor car, the telephone, and electric lights.The stories in A Country Doctor's Notebook are based on this two-year window in the life of the great modernist. Bulgakov candidly speaks of his own feelings of inadequacy, and warmly and wittily conjures episodes such as peasants applying medicine to their outer clothing rather than their skin, and finding himself charged with delivering a baby--having only read about the procedure in text books.Not yet marked by the dark fantasy of his later writing, this early work features a realistic and wonderfully engaging narrative voice--the voice, indeed, of twentieth century Russia's greatest writer. From the Trade Paperback edition.
A Country Road, A Tree
by Jo BakerSamuel Beckett is a young writer living in Paris--intoxicated by new friendships with James Joyce and the other writers and artists making the vibrant city their creative home--when war breaks out in 1939. He determines to stay and is swiftly drawn into the maelstrom, joining the Resistance. With him we experience the terrifying excitement yet stubborn vibrancy and camaraderie as the Parisians flee the Nazis and the Resistance goes underground; his friendships with the astonishing group of men and women who find themselves caught up in the Occupation; his quiet, committed love for Suzanne, the Frenchwoman who will become his lifelong companion; and his dangerous work encoding critical messages in translations and narrow escapes from the Gestapo. Here is a remarkable story of survival and determination, and a portrait of a uniquely brilliant mind.
A Country Road, A Tree: A novel
by Jo BakerFrom the best-selling author of Longbourn, a haunting new novel of spies and artists, passion and danger, hope in the face of despair Paris, 1939. The pavement rumbles with the footfall of Nazi soldiers marching along the Champs-Élysées. A young, unknown writer--Samuel Beckett--recently arrived from Ireland to make his mark, smokes one last cigarette with his lover before the city they know is torn apart. Soon he will put them both in mortal danger by joining the Resistance . . .Through it all we are witness to the workings of a uniquely brilliant mind struggling to create a language that will express this shattered world. Here is a remarkable story of survival and determination, and a portrait of the extremes of human experience alchemized into one man's timeless art.From the Hardcover edition.
A Country Year: Living the Questions
by Sue HubbellA &“delightful, witty&” memoir about starting over as a beekeeper in the Ozarks (Library Journal). Alone on a small Missouri farm after a thirty-year marriage, Sue Hubbell found a new love—of the winged, buzzing variety. Left with little but the commercial beekeeping and honey-producing business she started with her husband, Hubbell found solace in the natural world. Then she began to write, challenging herself to tell the absolute truth about her life and the things she cared about. Describing the ups and downs of beekeeping from one springtime to the next, A Country Year transports readers to a different, simpler place. In a series of exquisite vignettes, Hubbell reveals the joys of a life attuned to nature in this heartfelt memoir about life on the land, and of a woman finding her way in middle age. &“Once in a while there comes along a book so calm, so honest, so beautiful that even the most jaded or cynical readers have to say thank you. . . . This is such a book&” (The San Diego Union-Tribune).
A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent
by Robert W. MerryA highly acclaimed biography of a much neglected president, a gripping narrative that illuminates a crucial epoch in U. S. history.