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Summary and Analysis of Devil's Knot: Based on the Book by Mara Leveritt
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Devil’s Knot tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Mara Leveritt’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Devil’s Knot by Mara Leveritt includes: • Historical context • Chapter-by-chapter summaries • Character profiles • Timeline of major events • Important quotes • Fascinating trivia • Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Mara Leveritt’s Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three: In 1993, the brutal murders of three eight-year-old boys shocked the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas. Under pressure to solve the case, and lacking physical evidence to identify any suspects, authorities set their sights on a local trio of misfit teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, later dubbed the West Memphis Three. Leveritt’s account of the case, which resulted in one death sentence and two life sentences, is by turns a shocking, appalling, and heartbreaking work of true crime writing. Likening the Three’s plight to the Salem Witch Trials, she calls America’s justice system into question, arguing that these three young men were condemned simply for being different. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Guns, Germs, and Steel: Based on the Book by Jared Diamond
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Guns, Germs, and Steel tells you what you need to know--before or after you read Jared Diamond's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter summariesDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond: Professor Jared Diamond's informative and fascinating Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel explores a historic question: Why were the Eurasian peoples able to dominate those from other lands? Diamond argues that it was ecology and geography--not race--that shaped the modern world. Societies that developed in regions with fertile land for farming and that had domesticable plants and animals were able to progress more quickly, thereby creating the tools to conquer preliterate cultures. Drawing on a variety of disciplines--from linguistics, genetics, and epidemiology to biology, anthropology, and technology--Guns, Germs, and Steel offers an eloquently argued view of the development of human societies. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Hillbilly Elegy: Based on the Book by J.D. Vance (Smart Summaries)
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Hillbilly Elegy tells you what you need to know—before or after you read J.D. Vance&’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Hillbilly Elegy includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsCharacter profilesImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance: Hillbilly Elegy is both an honest, heartbreaking memoir about what it&’s really like to grow up in poverty and strife and a searing, thought-provoking take on the growing class divide in America. Hillbilly Elegy touches on how, as a country, we got here—and what, must be done to reverse the damage. As Ivy League–educated lawyer and Sillicon Valley principal J.D. Vance looks back on his childhood in Jackson, Kentucky, and Ohio, he recalls a youth marred by violence, poverty, and substance abuse, but also one of deep love and family loyalty. He tackles difficult questions about social class, upward mobility, and what it means to feel disenfranchised in your own country. His highly personal account guides readers to an understanding of rural conservatives, and how an entire segment of people transformed from New Deal democrats to right-wing Republicans. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Hope in the Dark: Based on the Book by Rebecca Solnit
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Hope in the Dark tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Rebecca Solnit’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Hope in the Dark includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of eventsImportant quotes and analysisFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit: Written in response to the 2004 US presidential election, and updated during the 2016 race, Rebecca Solnit’s Hope in the Dark is a call to action for people who find themselves despairing about the political climate of the world today. Hope in the Dark is a long essay that serves as a primer on social and environmental activism and uprisings from the mid-to-late 20th century to the present. Solnit uses this history of protesters, writers, and workers to argue that hope is the necessary catalyst for action. She insists that radicals and revolutionaries must hold onto hope in order to create a world more like the one they want to live in, even in the face of enormous obstacles, and especially in the face of uncertainty. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Just Mercy: Based on the Book by Bryan Stevenson
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Bryan Stevenson book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Just Mercy includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsCharacter profilesDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotes and analysisFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson: Just Mercy is a heartbreaking—but not entirely hopeless—look inside the American criminal justice system. The guide on this journey to death row, judges’ chambers, and courthouses small and large is Bryan Stevenson, one of the country’s foremost criminal justice reformers and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, the acclaimed legal aid organization based in Montgomery, Alabama. In Stevenson’s chronicle, the only thing standing between death or life imprisonment is an underpaid, overworked lawyer. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Lean In: Based on the Book by Sheryl Sandberg
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Lean In tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Sheryl Sandberg’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter summariesProfiles of the main charactersImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg: Lean In is a modern-day manifesto for women who aspire to rise to the top of their careers, as well as a pointed look at the many ways in which gender bias is reinforced in the workplace. With knowledge gleaned from Sheryl Sandberg’s experiences at Google and Facebook, and with insights from her from friends, mentors, and scientific studies, Lean In offers wisdom and inspiration to current and future leaders. With detailed steps and strategies, Sandberg shows how to lean in to our personal lives and careers—and how to help others achieve and succeed. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Missoula: Based on the Book by Jon Krakauer
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Missoula tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Jon Krakauer’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Missoula by Jon Krakauer includes: •Historical context •Case-by-case summaries •Profiles of the main characters •Detailed timeline of key events •Important quotes •Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Missoula by Jon Krakauer: Between 2010 and 2014, there was a spate of sexual assaults in the university town of Missoula, Montana, which drew the attention of the national media—and the Department of Justice. Centering around five cases of sexual assault at the University of Montana, Jon Krakauer’s account shows how one city became a microcosm for how campus rape is handled in the United States. Krakauer draws on police interviews, court testimony, and extensive research to reveal the complacency, failures, and successes of the prosecutors, the victims, the Missoula police, and the university in the handling of these disturbingly frequent sexual assault cases. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Outliers: Based on the Book by Malcolm Gladwell
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Outliers tells you what you need to know--before or after you read Malcolm Gladwell's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter summariesProfiles of the main charactersImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: What makes high achievers, like Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and members of the Beatles so successful? Is it pure talent? Personal drive? An off-the-charts IQ? In Outliers, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell explores the subject of success and argues that there is more to the story than individual exceptionalism. In addition to inherent talent or intelligence, there are other factors that have come into play for the innovators, artists, athletes, and prodigies who have become household names. Many who have attained rock-star status in their fields may have education, culture, access to a specific technology or opportunity, and ten thousand hours of practice to thank for their reaching their goals. Through a wide range of examples and anecdotes, learn what makes outliers so extraordinary. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Sapiens: Based on the Book by Yuval Noah Harari
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Yuval Noah Harari’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Sapiens includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsCharacter profilesDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari: Sapiens is a wide-ranging account of human history that upends the conventional wisdom about our species with novel, even startling, theories about how we developed and where we’re headed. The bestselling book Sapiens takes the reader from humanity’s remote origins in East Africa; through its spread to societies and empires around the world; and finally to the present, when Sapiens as we know them may be about to disappear. Throughout this journey, Homo Deus author Yuval Noah Harari offers new insights into the importance of language, imagination, and even ignorance in the development of human history. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Shrill: Based on the Book by Lindy West
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Lindy West’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman includes: Chapter-by-chapter overviewsCharacter profilesImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West: A New York Times–bestselling memoir by feminist writer and humorist Lindy West, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman follows the author’s metamorphosis from a painfully shy girl to a confidence-boosting journalist. Written in a no-holds-barred style, full of wisecracking, vulnerability, and humanity, West throws open a window and asks us to peer inside the sometimes lonely and misunderstood world of womanhood. Shrill examines how society views and treats big girls with big ideas and personalities. The discussion isn’t always pretty (touching on topics such as abortion, period stigma, and rape culture), but it’s entertaining and thought-provoking. Her story is a ballsy and provocative look at what it means to be fat and female in America. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of The Lost City of the Monkey God: Based on the Book by Douglas Preston (Smart Summaries)
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Lost City of the Monkey God tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Douglas Preston&’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Lost City of the Monkey God includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter summariesProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston: Douglas Preston&’s The Lost City of the Monkey God is a gripping account of the search for a civilization lost in the impenetrable jungles of Central America. For centuries, legends of the White City—the City of the Monkey God—have infused Central American culture and fired the imaginations of explorers and adventurers worldwide. The conquistadores heard of this marvel, but were never able to penetrate the jungle to find it. Author and journalist Douglas Preston accompanies a team of filmmakers and archaeologists into the one of the deadliest jungles on the planet to rediscover a truly lost world. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of The New Jim Crow: Based on the Book by Michelle Alexander
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The New Jim Crow tells you what you need to know--before or after you read Michelle Alexander's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter summaries Detailed timeline of key events Profiles of the main characters Important quotes Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander: Legal scholar and civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander's invaluable and timely work, The New Jim Crow, examines what she calls the new racial caste system in United States: mass incarceration. Following the practices of slavery and institutional discrimination, Alexander argues, mass incarceration is part of America's legacy to dehumanize and disenfranchise African Americans and Latinos. According to Alexander, "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." Thanks in a large part to the War on Drugs, more than two million people are in America's prisons today--an overwhelming majority of them are people of color who've been jailed for minor drug charges. When these adults leave prison, they are often denied employment, housing, the right to vote, and a quality education. As a result, they are rarely able to integrate successfully into society. The New Jim Crow is a well-argued call to dismantle a system of policies that continues to deny civil rights, decades after the passing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of The Upside of Inequality: Based on the Book by Edward Conrad
by Worth BooksSummary and Analysis of The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class Based on the Book by Edward Conard So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Upside of Inequality tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Edward Conard’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Upside of Inequality includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original workAbout The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class by Edward Conard: New York Times–bestselling author Edward Conard argues in favor of an American economic system that results in massive income inequality. Breaking down the causes of inequality while dispelling many of the myths surrounding stagnating wages and financial disparity for the the lower and middle classes, Conard dismisses the call for wealth redistribution. He, instead, makes the case for lower taxes, less regulation of banks, restricted immigration, and lower trade deficits. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of The World Is Flat 3.0: Based on the Book by Thomas L. Friedman (Smart Summaries)
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Thomas L. Friedman &’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The World Is Flat 3.0 by Thomas L. Friedman includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter summariesDetailed timeline of important eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About The World Is Flat 3.0 by Thomas L. Friedman: Pulitzer Prize–winning author Thomas L. Friedman imagines himself a modern-day Columbus, exploring a new world created by a global economy. He travels from Bangalore to Bentonville, interviewing key figures in the rise of globalization, outsourcing, offshoring, and supply chain management. Like great explorers before him, Friedman spins tales of vast wealth and freedoms made possible by advances in technology. But here, too, there be dragons: foreign competition, educational failures, governmental incompetence, and the specter of 9/11 and terrorism are the ugly flip side of crowd-sourced technological wonders. The World Is Flat is an essential work for anyone interested in the impact of globalization. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of Tribe: Based on the Book by Sebastian Junger (Smart Summaries)
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Sebastian Junger&’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Tribe includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of key eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger: Drawing on his experience as a journalist covering conflicts in Afghanistan and Sarajevo, Junger studied how war and great hardship bring people together for the common good. He speaks of combat soldiers returning home only to miss the tight bonds of their platoon, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. Based on additional research into history and social science, Tribe explores how much we can learn from tribal societies and their focus on loyalty, belonging, and sacrifice, in order to appreciate the power of connectedness in the modern world. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summary and Analysis of White Trash: Based on the Book by Nancy Isenberg (Smart Summaries)
by Worth BooksSo much to read, so little time? This brief overview of White Trash tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Nancy Isenberg&’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of White Trash includes: Historical contextChapter-by-chapter overviewsProfiles of the main charactersDetailed timeline of eventsImportant quotesFascinating triviaGlossary of termsSupporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg: In her New York Times–bestselling book White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg explores the role of poor, rural whites—white trash—in US culture and politics. Throughout its history, America has prided itself on the American Dream, where a person, regardless of class, can be whomever they want. But is social mobility a true ingredient of US society, or is it just American idealism at its best? Isenberg suggests the latter as she traces the history of the country from the first English settlements, through the Civil War, and up to present-day pop culture, examining the origins of the language and attitudes that have defined poor, white Americans for centuries. As Donald Trump moved in to the White House thanks, in part, to a vocal contingent of poor, white supporters, White Trash&’s detailed history offers insight to how the new president curried the favor of this large, often overlooked population, and how they might fare under his leadership. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
Summer of '42: A Study of German-Armenian Relations During the Second World War
by Levon ThomassianDespite the overwhelming contributions made by the Armenians to the Allied war effort, it is widely unknown that at least 18,000 served under the Third Reich. After the war, these so-called collaborators were chastised and indiscriminately labeled as traitors by those unable to grasp the complexity of their circumstances. Largely based on archival research, German-Armenian Relations in the Second World War attempts to separate fact from fallacy by examining the complex motives, treatment, and history of these Armenians.
Summer of '49: Summer Of '49, October 1964, The Amateurs, Playing For Keeps
by David HalberstamThis #1 bestselling baseball classic of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is &“dazzling . . . heart-stopping . . . A celebration of a vanished heroic age&” (The New York Times Book Review). The summer of 1949: It was baseball&’s Golden Age and the year Joe DiMaggio&’s New York Yankees were locked in a soon-to-be classic battle with Ted Williams&’s Boston Red Sox for the American League pennant. As postwar America looked for a unifying moment, the greatest players in baseball history brought their rivalry to the field, captivating the American public through the heart-pounding final moments of the season. This expansive story captures an era, incorporating profiles of the players and their families, fans, broadcasters, baseball executives, and sportswriters. Riveting in its blend of powerful detail and exhilarating narrative, The Summer of &’49 is Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam&’s engrossing look at not only a sports rivalry, but a time when America&’s very identity was wrapped up in its beloved national game. This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.
Summer of Hamn
by Chuck DThe tragedy of gun violence is depicted in annotated illustrations that illuminate a society gone hamn; from legendary hip-hop artist Chuck D (Public Enemy, Prophets of Rage, etc.)—Selected for the In the Margins Book Awards 2024 Nonfiction Recommendation List"With his latest work of graphic nonfiction, Chuck D uses his art and hip-hop rhymes to show how the US has been held hostage by gun violence and a growing sense of hopelessness . . . A focused, fresh, urgent text filled with pictures worth 1,000 words and rhymes worth thousands more." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred ReviewIN SUMMER OF HAMN, legendary hip-hop artist Chuck D takes on gun violence with rhythmic, inventive writing and passionately raw art. He has long spoken out against gun violence, including how it intersects with rap and hip-hop culture. Summer of Hamn is the bound journal Chuck D carried with him in the summer of 2022—a summer marked by a particularly high rate of gun death.In these pages, victims are memorialized, politicians are skewered, and vehement pleas to eradicate gun violence are made. Jaw-dropping statistics (40% of all personal guns in the world are owned by US citizens; there are 100 million more guns in the US than there are citizens) intersect with poetic reflections ("Another mall shooting seems normalized in Columbus / Raining outside in Ohio / Raining inside folks panic / Inside hearing shots bust"), all written in Chuck's hand over vibrant, utterly original, neoexpressionist ink and watercolor art.This book is the follow-up to STEWdio the debut trilogy on Chuck D's Enemy Books imprint, in which he invented a new medium—the "naphic grovel"—a bound journal brimming with his observations and reflections of current events in both art and prose. Summer of Hamn is the second release on the imprint.
Summer of Soul: A Docalogue (Docalogue)
by Jaimie Baron Kristen FuhsThe fifth title in the Docalogue series, this book examines Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). The award-winning film draws on archival footage and interviews to examine the legacy of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a showcase of Black music staged weekly throughout the summer of 1969. The film interrogates this event as a piece of “forgotten” history and prompts critical reflection on why this history was lost while also raising important questions related to archival preservation and cultural memory. Combining five different perspectives, this book acts both as an intensive scholarly treatment and as a pedagogical guide for how to analyze, theorize, and contextualize a documentary. Together, the essays in this book touch upon key topics related to the study of popular music, musical performance, and audiences; the discovery and reuse of archives and archival documents; and Black studies and American cultural history more broadly. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in multiple areas including but not limited to archival studies, Black studies, cultural studies, documentary studies, historiography, and music studies.
Summer of Soul: A Docalogue (Docalogue)
by Jaimie Baron Kristen FuhsThe fifth title in the Docalogue series, this book examines Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s 2021 documentary, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).The award-winning film draws on archival footage and interviews to examine the legacy of the Harlem Cultural Festival, a showcase of Black music staged weekly throughout the summer of 1969. The film interrogates this event as a piece of “forgotten” history and prompts critical reflection on why this history was lost while also raising important questions related to archival preservation and cultural memory. Combining five different perspectives, this book acts both as an intensive scholarly treatment and as a pedagogical guide for how to analyze, theorize, and contextualize a documentary. Together, the essays in this book touch upon key topics related to the study of popular music, musical performance, and audiences; the discovery and reuse of archives and archival documents; and Black studies and American cultural history more broadly.This book will be of interest to students and scholars in multiple areas including but not limited to archival studies, Black studies, cultural studies, documentary studies, historiography, and music studies.
Summer of Unrest: Generation Vexed: What the English Riots Don't Tell Us About Our Nation's Youth
by Nikesh Shukla Kieran YatesSummer of Unrest (Slight Return). For a few days at the start of August, England was gripped by the riots that erupted in its city centres. Although there were various motivations behind the trouble and a broad spectrum of ages and backgrounds involved, the front pages were emblazoned with images of hooded youths running amok and stories of the revenge of the feral underclass.In this final part of the Brain Shots: Summer of Unrest series, Nikesh Shukla and Kieran Yates interrogate whether young people are deliberately conforming to a stereotype foisted upon them, and point instead to the creativity and entrepreneurialism that are defining a supposedly 'lost' generation. An antidote to the broadsheet commentariat, this street-level view of the defining moment of the Summer of Unrest finds much to inspire hope and confidence for our future.
Summerfolk: A History of the Dacha, 1710–2000
by Stephen LovellThe dacha is a sometimes beloved, sometimes scorned Russian dwelling. Alexander Pushkin summered in one; Joseph Stalin lived in one for the last twenty years of his life; and contemporary Russian families still escape the city to spend time in them. Stephen Lovell's generously illustrated book is the first social and cultural history of the dacha. Lovell traces the dwelling's origins as a villa for the court elite in the early eighteenth century through its nineteenth-century role as the emblem of a middle-class lifestyle, its place under communist rule, and its post-Soviet incarnation. A fascinating work rich in detail, Summerfolk explores the ways in which Russia's turbulent past has shaped the function of the dacha and attitudes toward it. The book also demonstrates the crucial role that the dacha has played in the development of Russia's two most important cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg, by providing residents with a refuge from the squalid and crowded metropolis. Like the suburbs in other nations, the dacha form of settlement served to alleviate social anxieties about urban growth. Lovell shows that the dacha is defined less by its physical location"usually one or two hours" distance from a large city yet apart from the rural hinterland—than by the routines, values, and ideologies of its inhabitants. Drawing on sources as diverse as architectural pattern books, memoirs, paintings, fiction, and newspapers, he examines how dachniki ("summerfolk") have freed themselves from the workplace, cultivated domestic space, and created informal yet intense intellectual communities. He also reflects on the disdain that many Russians have felt toward the dacha, and their association of its lifestyle with physical idleness, private property, and unproductive use of the land. Russian attitudes toward the dacha are, Lovell asserts, constantly evolving. The word "dacha" has evoked both delight in and hostility to leisure. It has implied both the rejection of agricultural labor and, more recently, a return to the soil. In Summerfolk, the dacha is a unique vantage point from which to observe the Russian social landscape and Russian life in the private sphere.
Summers of Fire: A Memoir of Adventure, Love and Courage
by Linda StraderLinda Strader is one of the first women hired on a fire crew with the U.S. Forest Service. A naïve twenty-year-old in the mid-1970s, she discovers fighting wildfires is challenging—but in a man's world, they became only one of the challenges she would face. Battling fire is exhilarating, yet exhausting; the discrimination real and sometimes in her face. Summers of Fire is an Arizona to Alaska adventure story that honestly recounts the seven years Strader ventures into the heart of fires that scorch the land, vibrant friendships that fire the soul, and deep love that ends in devastating heartbreak.
Summoned: Identification and Religious Life in a Jewish Neighborhood
by Iddo TavoryOn a typical weekday, men of the Beverly-La Brea Orthodox community wake up early, beginning their day with Talmud reading and prayer at 5:45am, before joining Los Angeles' traffic. Those who work "Jewish jobs"--teachers, kosher supervisors, or rabbis--will stay enmeshed in the Orthodox world throughout the workday. But even for the majority of men who spend their days in the world of gentiles, religious life constantly reasserts itself. Neighborhood fixtures like Jewish schools and synagogues are always after more involvement; evening classes and prayers pull them in; the streets themselves seem to remind them of who they are. And so the week goes, culminating as the sabbatical observances on Friday afternoon stretch into Saturday evening. Life in this community, as Iddo Tavory describes it, is palpably thick with the twin pulls of observance and sociality. In Summoned, Tavory takes readers to the heart of the exhilarating--at times exhausting--life of the Beverly-La Brea Orthodox community. Just blocks from West Hollywood's nightlife, the Orthodox community thrives next to the impure sights, sounds, and smells they encounter every day. But to sustain this life, as Tavory shows, is not simply a moral decision they make. Being Orthodox is to be constantly called into being. People are reminded of who they are as they are called upon by organizations, prayers quorums, the nods of strangers, whiffs of unkosher food floating through the street, or the rarer Anti-Semitic remarks. Again and again, they find themselves summoned both into social life and into their identity as Orthodox Jews. At the close of Tavory's fascinating ethnography, we come away with a better understanding of the dynamics of social worlds, identity, interaction and self--not only in Beverly-La Brea, but in society at large.