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The 9.9 Percent: The New Aristocracy That Is Entrenching Inequality and Warping Our Culture
by Matthew StewartA scorching, trenchant, analysis of how the wealthiest group in American society is making life miserable for everyone—including themselves.In 21st century America, the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution have walked away with the big prizes even while the bottom 90% have lost ground. What&’s left of the American Dream has taken refuge in the 9.9% that lies just below the tip of extreme wealth. Collectively, the members of this group control more than half of the wealth in the country—and they are doing whatever it takes to hang on to their piece of the action in an increasingly unjust system. They log insane hours at the office and then turn their leisure time into an excuse for more career-building, even as they rely on an underpaid servant class to power their economic success and satisfy their personal needs. They have segregated themselves into zip codes designed to exclude as many people as possible. They have made fitness a national obsession even as swaths of the population lose healthcare and grow sicker. They have created an unprecedented demand for admission to elite schools and helped to fuel the dramatic cost of higher education. They channel their political energy into symbolic conflicts over identity in order to avoid acknowledging the economic roots of their privilege. And they have created an ethos of &“merit&” to justify their advantages. They are all around us. In fact, they are us—or what we are supposed to want to be. In The 9.9 Percent, Matthew Stewart argues that a new aristocracy is emerging in American society and it is repeating the mistakes of history. It is entrenching inequality, warping our culture, eroding democracy, and transforming an abundant economy into a source of misery. He calls for a regrounding of American culture and politics on a foundation closer to the original promise of America.
90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality
by Allison Yarrow“Allison Yarrow takes you back to the era of Anita Hill and Monica Lewinsky and Tonya Harding and examines how the media fueled America’s sexism.”—BustleTo understand how we got here, we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace. Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Madeleine Albright, Janet Reno, and Marcia Clark were undermined. Newsmakers like Britney Spears, Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the twenty-four-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched misogyny. Meanwhile, marketers hijacked feminism, sold “Girl Power,” and poisoned a generation. Today echoes of 90s “bitchification” still exist everywhere. To understand why, we must revisit and interrogate the 1990s—a decade in which empowerment was twisted into objectification, exploitation, and subjugation. Award–winning journalist Allison Yarrow’s timely examination is a must-read for anyone trying to understand twenty-first century sexism and end it for the next generation.“Yarrow’s biting autopsy of the decade scrutinizes the way society reduced—or “bitchified”—women . . . Direct quotes from politicians, journalists and comedians about the women provide the most jarring, oh-my-god-that-really-happened portions of Yarrow’s decade excavation.” —Pittsburg Post-Gazette“Allison Yarrow is a feminist and a muckraker in the tradition of Betty Friedan, Naomi Klein, and bell hooks.” —Steve Almond, author of Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country“Yarrow is a skillful scene setter.” —The Los Angeles Review of Books“‘Essential reading for every feminist.” Anne Helen Petersen, author of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud
920 O'Farrell Street: A Jewish Girlhood in Old San Francisco
by Charlene Akers Harriet L. LevyThe girlhood memoir of Harriet Lane Levy, friend and neighbor of Alice B. Toklas, provides an intimate and detailed glimpse into San Francisco's Victorian past.
98 Wounds
by Justin Chin98 Wounds is a series of improbably linked stories that reimagines and reconciles the abject, the outlaw, the ostracized, the misfits, and the cranky contrarians among us. Gay people have never been as free--or divided--as in today's society. As the gay majority surges into the mainstream, a social construct has emerged depicting "Good Gays" and "Bad Gays." Endless mythmaking goes into dehumanizing the Bad. Barebackers, poz sexpigs, meth-users, sexual libertines, and fetishists have been blamed, shamed, and disdained. Any vicious untruth or loathsome rumor about them--even those contrary to science or common sense--is accepted without question. The characters populating 98 Wounds run roughshod in a city spiraling towards collapse. They broker urgent desires in constant pursuit of identity, obsession, rituals of hope, even the simplicity of an ordinary life. They unwaveringly root for their own understanding of belonging, contentment, pleasure, and love. In 98 Wounds, either we are all damned, or we are all saved: a sentiment that speaks to all cultures in these uncertain times.
99 Maps to Save the Planet: With an introduction by Chris Packham
by KATAPULT'Terrifying yet funny, surprising yet predictable, simple yet poignant' Chris PackhamA shocking but informative, eye-catching and witty book of maps that illustrate the perilous state of our planet.The maps in this book are often shocking, sometimes amusing, and packed with essential information:· Did you know that just 67 companies worldwide are responsible for 67 per cent of global greenhouse emissions? · Or that keeping a horse has the same carbon footprint as a 23,500-kilometre road trip? · Did you know how many countries use less energy than is consumed globally by downloading porn from the internet?· Do you know how much of the earth's surface has been concreted over?· Or how many trees would we have to plant to make our planet carbon-neutral?Presenting a wealth of innovative scientific research and data in stunning, beautiful infographics, 99 Maps to Save the Planet provides us with instant snapshots of the destruction of our environment. At one glance, we can see the precarious state of our planet - but also realise how easy it would be to improve it Enlightening, a bit frightening, but definitely inspiring, 99 Maps to Save the Planet doesn't provide practical tips on how to save our planet: it just presents the facts. And the facts speak for themselves. Once we know them, what excuse do we have for failing to act?
99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life
by Adam ChandlerAn enlightening and entertaining interrogation of the myth of American self-reliance and the idea of hard work as destiny&“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.&” This phrase, arguably Thomas Edison&’s most famous quote, has been drilled into the minds of generations of Americans. A fairly straightforward iteration of the idea that innovation, discovery, and ingenuity are the result of drive and grit above all, it has also come to represent much darker myths: that hard work always leads to success and that achievement is the product of individuals and not communities. In this model, those who come out on top are there because they earned it, and everyone else needs to buckle down, glove up, and, maybe one day, they&’ll get there too.As the wealth gap widens, communities crumble, and Americans work more for less, Adam Chandler raises the question: What happens when perspiration isn&’t enough? To answer it, he crisscrosses the country interviewing mayors, teachers, generals, pastors, construction workers, and entrepreneurs, to reveal just how untenable relying on &“perspiration&” as a strategy has truly become. He also delves into America&’s past to reveal how our government, education system, and culture at large have woven the idea of meritocracy deep into the fabric of American society and how some of history&’s most famous so-called bootstrappers really built their wealth. From George Washington to Seattle,Washington, Jay Gatsby to Bill Gates, 99% Perspiration unpacks the misguided obsession with hard work that has come to define both the American dream and nightmare, offering insight into how we got here and hope for where we may go.
99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value: A Postcapitalist Manifesto
by Brian MassumiA speculative exploration of value, emphasizing practical experimentation in its future forms How can we begin to envision a postcapitalist economy without first engineering a radically new concept of value? And with a renewed sense of how and what we collectively value, what would the transition to new social forms look like? According to Brian Massumi, it is time to reclaim value from the capitalist market and the neoliberal reduction of life to &“human capital.&” It is time to occupy surplus-value for a postcapitalist future.99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value is both a theoretical and practical manifesto. Massumi reexamines ideas about money, exchange, and finance, with special attention to how what we value in experience for quality is economically translated into quantity. He proposes new conceptual tools for understanding value in directly qualitative terms, speculating on how this revaluation of value might practically form the basis of an alter-economy. A promising path, he suggests, might involve emerging blockchain technologies beyond bitcoin. But these must be uprooted from their libertarian origins and redesigned to serve not individual choice but collective creativity, not calculations of self-interest but collaborative speculations on the future to be shared. It is necessary to grasp the specificity of our contemporary neoliberal condition and the ultimately destructive forms of power it mobilizes to better resist their claim on the future.99 Theses on the Revaluation of Value is written to galvanize a radical redefinition of value for a livable postcapitalist future.
99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality Is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do about It
by Chuck Collins&“America&’s foremost opponent of inequality brilliantly shows how the 1 percent rigged the rules, looted the country, and got the ninety-nine percent to pay for it.&”—Juliet Schor, author of Born to Buy Over recent decades, we&’ve seen a radical redistribution of wealth upward to a tiny fraction of the population. In this book, activist Chuck Collins explains how it happened and marshals wide-ranging data to show exactly what the ninety-nine to one percent divide means in the real world and the damage it causes to individuals, businesses, and the earth. Most important, he answers the burning question: What can be done about it? He offers a common-sense guide to bringing about a society that works for everyone: the hundred percent. This is a struggle that can be won. After all, the odds are ninety-nine to one in our favor. &“This riveting tale of America as two cities will stay with you for years to come and—watch out! It may rouse you to action on the solutions that Collins spells out with perfect precision.&” —Charles Derber, author of The Pursuit of Attention
9th International Workshop on Spoken Dialogue System Technology (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering #579)
by Luis Fernando D’Haro Rafael E. Banchs Haizhou LiThis book presents the outcomes of the 9th International Workshop on Spoken Dialogue Systems (IWSDS), “Towards creating more human-like conversational agent technologies”. It compiles and provides a synopsis of current global research to push forward the state of the art in dialogue technologies, including advances in the context of the classical problems of language understanding, dialogue management and language generation, as well as cognitive topics related to the human nature of conversational phenomena, such as humor, empathy and social context understanding and awareness.
A. A. Gill Is Away
by A. A. GillA. A. Gill is one of the most feared writers in London, noted--according to the New York Times--for his "rapier wit. " Some even consider the mere assignment of a subject to Gill a hostile act. But when the notice "AA GILL IS AWAY" runs in the Sunday Times of London, the city can rest peacefully in the knowledge that the writer is off traveling. "My editor asked me what I wanted from journalism and I said the first thing that came into my head--I'd like to interview places. To treat a place as if it were a person, to go and listen to it, ask it questions, observe it the way you would interview a politician or a pop star," Gill writes. Upon his return, readers are treated to an account of his vacations to places like famine-stricken Sudan, the pornography studios of California's San Fernando Valley, the dying Aral Sea or the seedy parts of Kaliningrad. The result is one of the most fascinating, stylish and irreverent collections of travel writing.
A caballo entre milenios
by Fernando SavaterUn libro que admite múltiples lecturas: crónica deportiva, libro de viajes, relato de aventuras, reflexión sobre los gozos y las sombras en el cruce de dos siglos... Al hilo de la búsqueda apasionada de la carrera de caballos ideal, el autor recorre el mundo, desde Buenos Aires a Dubai, desde San Sebastián a Hong Kong y Tokio, sin olvidar los grandes hipódromos clásicos de Kentucky, Epsom o Longchamp. En esas travesías se cruza con la presencia y la memoria de los mejores caballos que han existido, con obras literarias y con películas, pero también con las preocupaciones de la actualidad política y social: el terrorismo, las drogas, la diversidad cultural, la democracia... Y siempre con las mil caras del amor a la vida y las mil amenazas de la muerte. Un diario singular del año dos mil para los lectores del siglo XXI.
A ciencia cierta: Miradas científicas para comprender la pandemia
by Gisella Orjeda MATEO PROCHAZKA ALEJANDRA RUIZ LEÓNUn e-book que nos permite revalorar el papel de la ciencia y la investigación en tiempos de pandemia. A ciencia cierta. Miradas científicas para comprender la pandemia propone al lector una nueva valoración a la labor científica y médica para la humanidad en tiempos de crisis sanitarias. La pandemia del COVID-19 ha revelado el fundamental aporte de nuestros científicos y médicos peruanos para salvar vidas y profundizar en la investigación. Estos ensayos de Gisella Orjeda, expresidente de CONCYTEC; Mateo Prochazka, médico epidemiólogo y Alejandra Ruiz León, bioquímica y fundadora de Mitocondria Comunicación, exponen el rol trascendental que la ciencia tiene en nuestras vidas.
A donde nos lleven los caminos: 45 años del dúo Larbanois & Carrero
by Martín DuarteUna biografía exhaustiva que recorre los 45 años del dúo. Cuando Eduardo Larbanois vio por primera vez a Mario Carrero desconfió de él. Por su apariencia —llevaba un traje color habano, bigotes cortos y el pelo engominado— pensó que se trataba de un tira, un agente encubierto de la dictadura. Fue en un festival de folclore en Paysandú, en 1973. Después, los entretelones del espectáculo y el regreso en ómnibus a Montevideo, en el que, por casualidad, compartieron asiento, permitieron que los músicos conversaran en profundidad, reconocieran en el otro la misma sensibilidad artística, social, política, y entablaran una amistad que los impulsó a construir un camino musical juntos. Ese encuentro imprevisto es el primero de muchos hitos en la historia del dúo Larbanois & Carrero, emblema de la música popular uruguaya. En este libro, el periodista y músico Martín Duarte presenta una biografía exhaustiva que recorre los 45 años del dúo, desde la formación oficial en 1977 hasta la actualidad. El recorrido retrata episodios fundamentales de las infancias de Carrero y Larbanois, sus inicios artísticos, sus primeros recitales, sus peripecias en giras nacionales e internacionales, sus militancias políticas y sus intercambios con otros artistas como Alfredo Zitarrosa, Washington Benavides, Rubén Lena, Vera Sienra, Pepe Guerra, León Gieco y Emiliano Brancciari, entre tantos otros que dejaron huella en el repertorio del dúo.
A.G. Gaston Motel in Birmingham, The: A Civil Rights Landmark (American Heritage)
by Marie A. SuttonTraveling throughout the South during the 1950s was hazardous for African Americans. There were precious few hotels and restaurants that opened their doors to minorities, and fewer still had accommodations above the bare minimum, to say nothing of the racism and violence that followed. But in Birmingham, black entrepreneur and eventual millionaire A.G. Gaston created a first-class motel and lounge for African Americans that became a symbol of pride of his community. It served as the headquarters for Birmingham's civil rights movement and became a revolving door for famous entertainers, activists, politicians and other pillars of the national black community. Author Marie Sutton chronicles the fascinating story of the motel and how it became a refuge during a time when African Americans could find none.
À la frontière des mondes: Jeunesse étudiante, Action catholique et changement social en Acadie (1900-1970) (Amérique française)
by Philippe VolpéL’Acadie contemporaine est souvent interprétée sous l’angle de la rupture et synthétisée par le découpage binaire tradition-modernité. Cette lecture statique et manichéenne oppose, en définitive, le catholicisme prétendument régressif de la première moitié du 20e siècle au libéralisme progressiste des années 1960. Pourtant, le changement social n’est-il pas un long processus ? Est-ce fantaisiste de penser, de façon continue, que le religieux omniprésent du début du siècle n’a pas été monolithique et qu’ont pu y germer les fondements idéologiques des mobilisations acadiennes ? Partant d’une étude fouillée et détaillée des mouvements étudiants et d’Action catholique en Acadie, paradoxalement méconnus, et tenant compte de leur importance, Philippe Volpé nous invite à réfléchir à ces questions.De l’Association catholique de la jeunesse acadienne aux syndicats étudiants des années 1960, en passant par la Jeunesse étudiante catholique, l’auteur nous fait découvrir des acteurs et des mouvements qui, pendant un demi-siècle, ont contribué au développement de la petite société acadienne. Entre la jeunesse et la vie adulte, l’Action catholique et l’Action nationale, le social et le politique, l’universalisme et le nationalisme, l’enceinte collégiale et la société civile, l’Acadie et le Canada français, cette étude nous mène « à la frontière des mondes », soit au carrefour de tensions et de débats qui rendent compte des itinéraires, des idées et des programmes ; bref, des intentions primordiales qui ont animé de nombreux acteurs sociaux en Acadie durant la première moitié du 20e siècle. Il en découle un récit original qui propose une relecture étonnante des paramètres de compréhension de l’Acadie contemporaine.Publié en français.
The A-List Playbook: How to Survive Any Crisis While Remaining Wealthy, Famous, and Most Importantly, Skinny
by Leslie GornsteinIf Hollywood is a sport, you want Leslie Gornstein on your team and this playbook in your ridiculously-oversized leather purse. The A-List Playbook is the perfect introduction for newcomers to the exciting alternate reality of the celebrity lifestyle. A must-read for anyone who cares why so many celebs are sporting "bumps," or whether they are really "just like us," this guide-nay, rulebook-lays down the law on what you need to know to play Hollywood in a simple and concise manner. (And if you don't care? You care. It's a celebrity culture; if you can't embrace it, mock it!)The voice is intelligently hilarious, and everyone's favorite Answer Bitch has been around the boulevard once or twice. (How else would she have scored a column on E! and a radio show on Sirius?) For the first time on the written page, she reveals the secrets to celebrity life. Here's everything you need to know to hire and fire assistants, develop a loyal entourage, get free makeup, and keep those inaccurate cellulite-inclusive photographs out of the press. With timeless anecdotes, razor sharp quotes, and illustrative charts, The A-List Playbook is the smart girl's response to People.
A los que vienen: Democracia, desigualdad, justicia, educación, ecología, sexualidad, felicidad explicadas a los jóvenes
by Manuela CarmenaEl primer testimonio escrito de Manuela Carmena después de ser alcaldesa de Madrid. Sus palabras más personales e inspiradoras dirigidas a las generaciones venideras y a la sociedad en general. Un libro para ti, que eres joven. Para ti, porque puedes cambiar las cosas. Manuela Carmena, exalcaldesa de Madrid y jueza durante más de 30 años, es mujer, de izquierdas, progresista, feminista, ecologista, demócrata, patriota (si la patria lo es en positivo), agnóstica, madre y abuela, entre otras muchas cosas. Pero ante todo es una ciudadana, una persona como cualquier otra que ha demostrado que se puede hacer política de otra manera, que los pequeños gestos y hechos importan, que nuestros intereses, los de la gente, pueden ser llevados a las instituciones, defendidos y puestos en valor. Que, en definitiva, el pueblo puede y tiene que ser escuchado. En este libro Manuela quiere recoger los principales temas y preocupaciones que ya ha puesto de relevancia en su alcaldía y que ahora quiere compartir de otra manera, desde la vida civil, con las nuevas generaciones que vienen con fuerza y que quizás puedan necesitar algunas cariñosas y valiosas palabras de una de las más queridas figuras públicas que nos han gobernado en las últimas décadas. Gracias, Manuela.
A mí no me iba a pasar: Una autobiografía con perspectiva de género
by Laura FreixasUno de los referentes del feminismo español reflexiona, desde una perspectiva de género, sobre su propia vida. Desde que empezó a publicar sus escritos en 1988, Laura Freixas se ha convertido en una de las voces más relevantes del feminismo español. En esta autobiografía, la autora nos abre las puertas, de manera íntima y desgarradora, a una de las etapas centrales de su vida: el matrimonio y la maternidad. Y no lo hace desde la suficiencia que puede dar el paso del tiempo, sino todo lo contrario: ahonda en su memoria de manera crítica y reflexiona sobre el rol femenino convencional que nunca quiso llevar. A mí no me iba a pasar es una reflexión sobre la vida privada y el feminismo, una muestra transparente y sincera de las contradicciones humanas.
A mí no me iba a pasar: Una autobiografía con perspectiva de género
by Laura FreixasUno de los referentes del feminismo español reflexiona, desde una perspectiva de género, sobre su propia vida. Desde que empezó a publicar sus escritos en 1988, Laura Freixas se ha convertido en una de las voces más relevantes del feminismo español. En esta autobiografía, la autora nos abre las puertas, de manera íntima y desgarradora, a una de las etapas centrales de su vida: el matrimonio y la maternidad. Y no lo hace desde la suficiencia que puede dar el paso del tiempo, sino todo lo contrario: ahonda en su memoria de manera crítica y reflexiona sobre el rol femenino convencional que nunca quiso llevar. A mí no me iba a pasar es una reflexión sobre la vida privada y el feminismo, una muestra transparente y sincera de las contradicciones humanas.
A. Philip Randolph and the Struggle for Civil Rights
by Cornelius L. BynumA. Philip Randolph's career as a trade unionist and civil rights activist fundamentally shaped the course of black protest in the mid-twentieth century. Standing alongside individuals such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey at the center of the cultural renaissance and political radicalism that shaped communities such as Harlem in the 1920s and into the 1930s, Randolph fashioned an understanding of social justice that reflected a deep awareness of how race complicated class concerns, especially among black laborers. Examining Randolph's work in lobbying for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, threatening to lead a march on Washington in 1941, and establishing the Fair Employment Practice Committee, Cornelius L. Bynum shows that Randolph's push for African American equality took place within a broader progressive program of industrial reform. Some of Randolph's pioneering plans for engineering change--which served as foundational strategies in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s--included direct mass action, nonviolent civil disobedience, and purposeful coalitions between black and white workers. Bynum interweaves biographical information on Randolph with details on how he gradually shifted his thinking about race and class, full citizenship rights, industrial organization, trade unionism, and civil rights protest throughout his activist career. "
The A Priori Method in the Social Sciences: A Multidisciplinary Approach
by Jean-Sylvestre BergéThis edited volume takes a multidisciplinary look at the philosophical concept of a priori. Placing social sciences at the heart of the discussion, this book establishes a dialogue between various disciplines and the different postulates, presuppositions, prejudices, paradigms, beliefs, commonplaces, biases or emotions that forge their theoretical and practical constructs. The book is divided into three parts. Chapters in Part I lay the foundations of a new antecedent approach that revisits the classical approach to a priori and its relationships with law and philosophy. Chapters in Part II extend the analysis to economics and management, on such key topics as blockchain technology, labor, health insurance and innovation. Finally, chapters in Part III turn to anthropology and sociology, to reconsider the core methods of these different disciplines and to nourish reflection on the basis of new working hypotheses.
À quoi sert la philanthropie: Explorer l’univers des fondations canadiennes
by Hilary M. PearsonPour la plupart des Canadiens et Canadiennes, le monde de la philanthropie et des fondations privées demeure mystérieux. Parfois comparées de façon mémorable à des girafes, les fondations sont des créatures qui ne devraient pas exister. Pourtant, elles existent bel et bien, et elles sont même entourées d’une aura mystique.Dans À quoi sert la philanthropie?, Hilary Pearson démystifie le monde de la philanthropie canadienne en dressant un portrait actuel des fondations et en mettant en lumière des organisations qui agissent avec détermination face à certains des défis sociaux et économiques les plus pressants de notre époque : les changements climatiques, l’avenir des villes, l’éducation et l’évolution de la main-d’œuvre, le logement et le besoin urgent de réparer et d’établir de nouvelles relations avec les peuples autochtones. Mme Pearson, qui a travaillé pendant deux décennies auprès des dirigeants de fondations à travers le Canada, nous offre un regard intime sur la façon dont ces organisations continuent d’évoluer. Par le biais d’entretiens personnels effectués auprès de la direction de fondations privées – grandes ou petites, établies de longue date ou nouvellement créées – elle décrit les stratégies et les efforts déployés par des fondations canadiennes pour rassembler les parties prenantes de la société, faire le plaidoyer de causes importantes, servir comme intermédiaires ou créer des partenariats.À une époque marquée par des divisions sociales et des inégalités croissantes, À quoi sert la philanthropie? constitue une contribution opportune au débat actuel sur la légitimité de la philanthropie organisée. Mme Pearson défend avec conviction le rôle primordial joué par la philanthropie privée pour relever les défis d’une époque en pleine mutation.
a tumblr book: platform and cultures
by Alexander Cho Allison McCracken Louisa Stein Indira N HochThis book takes an extensive look at the many different types of users and cultures that comprise the popular social media platform Tumblr. Though it does not receive nearly as much attention as other social media such as Twitter or Facebook, Tumblr and its users have been hugely influential in creating and shifting popular culture, especially progressive youth culture, with the New York Times referring to 2014 as the dawning of the “age of Tumblr activism.” Perfect for those unfamiliar with the platform as well as those who grew up on it, this volume contains essays and artwork that span many different topics: fandom; platform structure and design; race, gender and sexuality, including queer and trans identities; aesthetics; disability and mental health; and social media privacy and ethics. An entire generation of young people that is now beginning to influence mass culture and politics came of age on Tumblr, and this volume is an indispensable guide to the many ways this platform works.
The A-Z of Curious London: Strange Stories of Mysteries, Crimes and Eccentrics (A-Z of Curious)
by Gilly PickupSpooky, gruesome, weird but true things about one of the world’s greatest cities come alive in The A-Z of Curious London. Discover London’s tiniest house, a 4,000-year-old mouse made from Nile clay, and have a giggle at things people leave on London’s transport (including false teeth, a human skull and a park bench - yes, really.) Why did a dentist keep his dead wife on view in a shop window? Where did a shopkeeper murder 150 customers? Which Queen showed her bosom to an Ambassador? Why was a man arrested for wearing a top hat? In the City proper, why is no thoroughfare called a road? To sum up, eccentrics, legends, folklore, murders, scandals, ghosts, incredible characters and oodles of wow factor, it’s all here.
The A-Z of Curious Somerset: Strange Stories of Mysteries, Crimes and Eccentrics (A-Z of Curious)
by Geoffrey BodyThis book draws on the long and unique heritage of the county of Somerset, bringing to life seventy of the little known but fascinating and unusual aspects of a much-loved area. It tells of body-snatchers and bewitchment; crime and conflict; lepers and lighthouses; songs and words; heroes and villains – this is book is of and for the curious. Its accounts of larger-than-life episodes from Somerset activity, locations and people take the reader on a near-unbelievable exploration of local human behaviour and idiosyncrasy. Richly illustrated, this book is great for dipping into, but can equally be enjoyed from cover to cover.