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55 Slightly Sinister Stories: 55 Stories. 55 Words Each. No More. No Less.
by Racha MourtadaSize does matter in these delightfully tiny tales populated with narcoleptic drivers, bickering backers, suspicious spouses, and other memorable characters. Full of dark humor, intrigue, and absurdity, this collection of slightly sinister (and occasionally sweet) stories delivers a bite-size reading experience to satisfy any literary craving.
Couture Hats: From The Outrageous To The Refined
by Louis BouSince the recent royal wedding, couture hats and headpieces are gaining more attention than ever before. Featured on guests from Victoria Beckham to Sarah Ferguson’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, whimsical and sculptural hats are now splashed across the pages of fashion magazines, advertisements, and blogs. The trademark accessory of fashion muse Isabella Blow, couture hats were among the most talked about elements of the recent Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met, and a Stephen Jones Couture Hats exhibition is running at Bard from September 2011 to April 2012.Couture Hats, a luscious gallery of modern fashion designs, will be unlike anything else on the market, artfully showcasing the most innovative work of master milliners around the world, including the likes of Stephen Jones, Philip Treacy, Anthony Peto, and Nasir Mazhar, designers who have all constructed numerous hats and headpieces for members and guests of the royal family, as well as celebrities like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Daphne Guinness.Already endorsed by the creative director of Givenchy, each chapter of Couture Hats is devoted to a particular designer or design house, providing biographical information, professional philosophies, trade secrets, and intimate interviews. With hundreds of full-page, full-color photographs, these gorgeous modern hats include gravity-defying sculptural shapes to delight and inspire refined women, modern fashionistas, designers, students, aspiring milliners, and costume lovers. Even for those without the gall to wear such daring pieces, these hats will fascinate all creative minds.Among the designers included are:Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueenPhilip TreacyStephen JonesNoel StewartHouse of FloraHeather HueyTour de ForceÀngel CollManuel AlbarranClaudia SchulzEdwina IbbotsonTolentino Haute HatsCharlie Le MinduSimon EkreliusPiers AtkinsonEmma YeoWilliam ChambersEllen ChristineAnya CaliendoDinu BodiciuGustavo Adolfo TariIrene BussemakerDayna Pinkham
Distant Cycles: Schubert and the Conceiving of Song
by Richard KramerFranz Schubert's song cycles Schone Mullerin and Winterreise are cornerstones of the genre. But as Richard Kramer argues in this book, Schubert envisioned many other songs as components of cyclical arrangements that were never published as such. By carefully studying Schubert's original manuscripts, Kramer recovers some of these "distant cycles" and accounts for idiosyncrasies in the songs which other analyses have failed to explain. Returning the songs to their original keys, Kramer reveals linkages among songs which were often obscured as Schubert readied his compositions for publication. His analysis thus conveys even familiar songs in fresh contexts that will affect performance, interpretation, and criticism. After addressing problems of multiple settings and revisions, Kramer presents a series of briefs for the reconfiguring of sets of songs to poems by Goethe, Rellstab, and Heine. He deconstructs Winterreise, using its convoluted origins to illuminate its textual contradictions. Finally, Kramer scrutinizes settings from the Abendrote cycle (on poems by Friedrich Schlegel) for signs of cyclic process. Probing the farthest reaches of Schubert's engagement with the poetics of lieder, Distant Cycles exposes tensions between Schubert the composer and Schubert the merchant-entrepreneur.
Creative Cosplay: Selecting & Sewing Costumes Way Beyond Basic
by Amanda HaasAn inspirational guide to sewing cosplay Boldly enter the world of cosplay and gain the confidence to design the costume of your dreams! Award-winning cosplayer Amanda Haas helps you translate your ideas from fiction to reality as you research costumes, shop for fabrics, mash-up patterns, and present your cosplay at a competition. A gorgeous photo gallery will have you frantic to join the cosplay community, while the author’s seasoned advice will give you the courage to take the first step. Bonus project: Sew a bum bag to carry your keys and other essentials to a con. Learn the art of making and wearing designer-quality costumes that will transform your persona. Turn fiction into fashion! A step-by-step guide to designing your own cosplay Dive into the fun world of cosplay with the author’s trusted advice Step up your cosplay costumes with inspirational photos, techniques, and more
Monster Book of Manga
by Jorge BalaguerAn extraordinary new volume in the bestselling Monster Book of Manga books Gothic features thirty dark characters and easy-to-follow instructions teaching you how to create them.The Monster Book of Manga: Gothic is the ultimate guide to creating the hottest, most cutting-edge manga. Inside you'll find thirty devious and mysterious manga characters, along with step-by-step instructions taking you from initial line drawings to graphic, full-color designs. The characters include rebellious and subversive youth—from rock stars and dancers to gothic cheerleaders and a beautiful, modernized gothic Lolita. There are also dangerous cyberpunks, vampires, and warriors, as well as a gothic space queen and a satanic being. Unique in its content and the elegance of its characters, The Monster Book of Manga: Gothic is the only comprehensive guide to creating gothic manga and a must-have for all new and experienced manga artists alike.
Bushmanders & Bullwinkles: How Politicians Manipulate Electronic Maps and Census Data to Win Elections
by Mark MonmonierFor years Mark Monmonier, "a prose stylist of no mean ability or charm" according to the Washington Post, has delighted readers with his insightful understanding of cartography as an art and technology that is both deceptive and revealing. Now he turns his focus to the story of political cartography and the redrawing of congressional districts. His title Bushmanders and Bullwinkles combines gerrymander with the surname of the president who actively tolerated racial gerrymandering and draws attention to the ridiculously shaped congressional districts that evoke the antlers of the moose who shared the cartoon spotlight with Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Written from the perspective of a cartographer rather than a political scientist, Bushmanders and Bullwinkles examines the political tales maps tell when votes and power are at stake. Monmonier shows how redistricting committees carve out favorable election districts for themselves and their allies; how disgruntled politicians use shape to challenge alleged racial gerrymanders; and how geographic information systems can make reapportionment a controversial process with outrageous products. He also explores controversies over the proper roles of natural boundaries, media maps, census enumeration, and ethnic identity. Raising important questions about Supreme Court decisions in regulating redistricting, Monmonier asks if the focus on form rather than function may be little more than a distraction from larger issues like election reform. Characterized by the same wit and clarity as Monmonier's previous books, Bushmanders and Bullwinkles is essential background for understanding what might prove the most contentious political debate of the new decade.
Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking
by Eugene S. RobinsonCrushing your enemies, driving them before you, and hearing the lamentations of their women? It doesn't get any better than this." –Eugene Robinson, ripping off John Milius That's the sentiment that surges just below the surface of Eugene Robinson's Fight – an engrossing, intimate look into the all–absorbing world of fighting. Robinson – a former body–builder, one–time bouncer, and lifelong fight connoisseur – takes readers on a no–holds–barred plunge into what fighting is all about, and what fighters live for. If George Plimpton had muscles and had been choked out one too many times––this is the book he could have written. When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they get their asses kicked, they fight because they love fighting. Fight is part encyclopedia, part panegyric to fighting in all its forms and glory. Robinson's narrative – told in his trademark tough–guy, stream–of–consciousness noir voice – punctuates this explanatory compendium of the fighting world. From wrestling, jiu–jitsu, boxing and muay thai to bar fighting, hand–to–hand combat, prison fighting and hockey fights, from the greatest movie fight scenes to how to throw the perfect left hook, Fight is a scene–by–scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting. With his aficionado's enthusiasm and fast–paced, addictive voice, Robinson's Fight combines compelling text with beautiful photographs to create an illustrated book as edgy and interesting as it is gorgeous.
Hey America!: The Epic Story of Black Music and the White House
by Stuart CosgroveThis is the untold story of black music – its triumph over racism, segregation, undercapitalised record labels, media discrimination and political anxiety – told through the perspective of the most powerful office in the world: from Louis Armstrong's spat with President Eisenhower and Eartha Kitt's stormy encounter with Lady Bird Johnson to James Brown's flirtation with Nixon, Reaganomics and the 'Cop Killer' scandal. Moving, insightful and wide-ranging, Hey America! charts the evolution of sixties soul from the margins of American society to the mainstream, culminating in the rise of urban hip-hop and the dramatic stand-off between Donald Trump and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Burn the Dark: Malus Domestica #1 (Malus Domestica #1)
by S. A. HuntChilling Adventures of Sabrina meets Stranger Things in award-winning author S. A. Hunt’s Burn the Dark, first in the Malus Domestica horror action-adventure series about a punk YouTuber on a mission to bring down witches, one vid at a time.Robin is a YouTube celebrity gone-viral with her intensely-realistic witch hunter series. But even her millions of followers don't know the truth: her series isn’t fiction.Her ultimate goal is to seek revenge against the coven of witches who wronged her mother long ago. Returning home to the rural town of Blackfield, Robin meets friends new and old on her quest for justice. But then, a mysterious threat known as the Red Lord interferes with her plans….“Brilliant!” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author The Malus Domestica series#1: Burn the Dark#2: I Come with Knives#3: The HellionAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Purging the Poorest: Public Housing and the Design Politics of Twice-Cleared Communities (Historical Studies Of Urban America Ser.)
by Lawrence J. ValeThe building and management of public housing is often seen as a signal failure of American public policy, but this is a vastly oversimplified view. In Purging the Poorest, Lawrence J. Vale offers a new narrative of the seventy-five-year struggle to house the “deserving poor.”In the 1930s, two iconic American cities, Atlanta and Chicago, demolished their slums and established some of this country’s first public housing. Six decades later, these same cities also led the way in clearing public housing itself. Vale’s groundbreaking history of these “twice-cleared” communities provides unprecedented detail about the development, decline, and redevelopment of two of America’s most famous housing projects: Chicago’s Cabrini-Green and Atlanta’s Techwood /Clark Howell Homes. Vale offers the novel concept of design politics to show how issues of architecture and urbanism are intimately bound up in thinking about policy. Drawing from extensive archival research and in-depth interviews, Vale recalibrates the larger cultural role of public housing, revalues the contributions of public housing residents, and reconsiders the role of design and designers.
Farlander: A Heart Of The World Novel (The Heart of the World Novels #1)
by Col BuchananThe Heart of the World is a land in strife. For fifty years the Holy Empire of Mann, an empire and religion born from a nihilistic urban cult, has been conquering nation after nation. Their leader, Holy Matriarch Sasheen, ruthlessly maintains control through her Diplomats, priests trained as subtle predators.Ash is a member of an elite group of assassins, the Roshun, who offer protection through the threat of vendetta. Forced by his ailing health to take on an apprentice, he chooses Nico, a young man living in the besieged city of Bar-Khos. At the time, Nico is hungry, desperate, and alone in a city that finds itself teetering on the brink.When the Holy Matriarch's son deliberately murders a woman under the protection of the Roshun; he forces the sect to seek his life in retribution. As Ash and his young apprentice set out to fulfill the Roshun orders, their journey takes them into the heart of the conflict between the Empire and the Free Ports…into bloodshed and death.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Résumé, Ages 0 to 22
by MariNaomiFrom her father and mother's interracial marriage to her own "you show me yours, I'll show you mine" moments on the playground—from drug experimentation to sexual/identity questions—MariNaomi lays her inner life bare. Kiss & Tell is her funny and frank memoir in graphic form: a fresh and offbeat coming-of-age story unfolding against the colorful backdrop of San Francisco in the '80s and '90s. Through deft storytelling and charming illustration, MariNaomi carries us through first love and worst love, through heartbreak and bedroom experimentation, as she grows from misfit teen to young woman.
Waffen-SS Dutch, Belgian, and Danish Volunteers: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)
by Ian Baxter“This book is a treasure trove of inspiration for models, vignettes, and dioramas.” — IPMS/USAFollowing the German invasion of the Soviet Union, numerous Dutchmen, Belgians and Danes volunteered for the Waffen-SS. The largest division, SS Volunteer Legion Netherlands operated in Yugoslavia and then Northern Russia. It was later re-designated 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland. Fighting alongside the Nederland formation was the SS Volunteer Legion Flanders, manned mainly with Dutch speaking recruits from occupied Belgium. After being disbanded it was later reformed as the SS Assault Brigade Langemarck (SS-Sturmbrigade Langemarck). The SS Volunteer Legion Walloon, recruited from French-speaking volunteers from German occupied Belgium, was sent to Russia and later integrated with the SS Assault Brigade Wallonia (SS-Sturmbrigade Wallonien). Finally some 6,000 Danes served in Free Corps Denmark which went to the Eastern Front in May 1942. Within a year the formation was disbanded into Division Nordland, known as `Regiment 24 Danemark` Drawing on a superb collection of rare and often unpublished photographs, this fine Images of War book describes the fighting history of each formation, notably the 1944 battle of Narva, which was known as the battle of the European SS. As its forces were pushed further back across a scarred and burning wasteland it describes how these Dutch, Belgian and Danish units became cut off in the Kurland Pocket until some were evacuated by sea. The remainder were killed or captured in front of Berlin in April 1945.
The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America (Studies In Communication, Media, And Pub Ser.)
by Robert M. Entman Andrew RojeckiLiving in a segregated society, white Americans learn about African Americans not through personal relationships but through the images the media show them. The Black Image in the White Mind offers the most comprehensive look at the intricate racial patterns in the mass media and how they shape the ambivalent attitudes of Whites toward Blacks. Using the media, and especially television, as barometers of race relations, Robert Entman and Andrew Rojecki explore but then go beyond the treatment of African Americans on network and local news to incisively uncover the messages sent about race by the entertainment industry-from prime-time dramas and sitcoms to commercials and Hollywood movies. While the authors find very little in the media that intentionally promotes racism, they find even less that advances racial harmony. They reveal instead a subtle pattern of images that, while making room for Blacks, implies a racial hierarchy with Whites on top and promotes a sense of difference and conflict. Commercials, for example, feature plenty of Black characters. But unlike Whites, they rarely speak to or touch one another. In prime time, the few Blacks who escape sitcom buffoonery rarely enjoy informal, friendly contact with White colleagues—perhaps reinforcing social distance in real life. Entman and Rojecki interweave such astute observations with candid interviews of White Americans that make clear how these images of racial difference insinuate themselves into Whites' thinking. Despite its disturbing readings of television and film, the book's cogent analyses and proposed policy guidelines offer hope that America's powerful mediated racial separation can be successfully bridged. "Entman and Rojecki look at how television news focuses on black poverty and crime out of proportion to the material reality of black lives, how black 'experts' are only interviewed for 'black-themed' issues and how 'black politics' are distorted in the news, and conclude that, while there are more images of African-Americans on television now than there were years ago, these images often don't reflect a commitment to 'racial comity' or community-building between the races. Thoroughly researched and convincingly argued."—Publishers Weekly "Drawing on their own research and that of a wide array of other scholars, Entman and Rojecki present a great deal of provocative data showing a general tendency to devalue blacks or force them into stock categories."—Ben Yagoda, New Leader Winner of the Frank Luther Mott Award for best book in Mass Communication and the Robert E. Lane Award for best book in political psychology.
The Queen of Swords: The Six-gun Tarot, The Shotgun Arcana, The Queen Of Swords (Golgotha #3)
by R. S. Belcher1720. Escaping the gallows, Anne Bonney, the infamous pirate queen, sets sail in search of a fabulous treasure said to be hiding in a lost city of bones somewhere in the heart of Africa. But what she finds is a destiny she never expected . . .1870. Maude Stapleton is a respectable widow raising a daughter on her own. Few know, however, that Maude belongs to an ancient order of assassins, the Daughters of Lilith, and heir to the legacy of Anne Bonney, whose swashbuckling exploits blazed a trail that Maude must now follow—if she ever wants to see her kidnapped daughter again! Searching for her missing child, come hell or high water, Maude finds herself caught in the middle of a secret war between the Daughters of Lilith and their ancestral enemies, the monstrous Sons of Typhon, inhuman creatures spawned by primordial darkness, she embarks on a perilous voyage that will ultimately lead her to the long-lost secret of Anne Bonney—and the Father of All Monsters. One of the most popular characters from The Six-Gun Tarot and The Shotgun Arcana now ventures beyond the Weird West on a boldly imaginative, globe-spanning adventure of her own!
Sniper on the Ypres Salient: An Infantryman's War In The Royal Welsh Fusiliers
by Sue Boase William McCraeJust after midnight on 22 April 1916 on the Western Front, a sergeant from the 15th (1st London) Royal Welsh Fusiliers came sliding and stumbling along the dark, mud-filled trench towards the four men, huddled together and soaked-through, in the shallow dugout. He was clutching his postbag in which there were four parcels for one of them, William McCrae, whose twentieth birthday fell on this day. A hand-written account by William, my grandfather, was found in my mother’s papers, long after his death. This book describes a year of his time fighting in the First World War, from December 1915 to December 1916. Two months after his birthday, he was marching towards the Somme, where he was to act as a runner during the key Welsh engagement in the Battle of Mametz Wood. Later, he went on to volunteer and train as a sniper. He continued in this role for over a year, becoming a lance corporal in the 38th Divisional Sniping Company while fighting on the Ypres Salient. His words emphasise the key role snipers played in the collecting of intelligence about the enemy, through close observation and careful reporting. His account stops abruptly in mid-sentence, just at the point where he indicates he is about to reveal more to us about ‘a new, interesting part of the line to be manned by us Snipers’. Piecing together clues from his sketches, maps and photos, and this book paints a picture of Williams’ time during the rest of the war. In 1917 he returned to England to train as a temporary officer in the 18th Officer Cadet Battalion at Prior Park, Bath. He came back to the Western Front as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, where he was seconded to the 1/5 Lancashire Fusiliers until the end of the war. During this time, it is likely that his interest and experience as a sniper continued, with evidence that he may have taught at one of the Sniping Schools set up across France.
The Culture of Ancient Egypt: Originally published as The Burden of Egypt
by John A. WilsonThe story of Egypt is the story of history itself—the endless rise and fall, the life and death and life again of the eternal human effort to endure, enjoy, and understand the mystery of our universe. Emerging from the ancient mists of time, Egypt met the challenge of the mystery in a glorious evolution of religious, intellectual, and political institutions and for two millenniums flourished with all the vigor that the human heart can invest in a social and cultural order. Then Egypt began to crumble into the desert sands and the waters of the Nile, and her remarkable achievements in civilization became her lingering epitaph. John A. Wilson has written a rich and interpretive biography of one of the greatest cultural periods in human experience. He answers—as best the modern Egyptologist can—the questions inevitably asked concerning the dissolution of Egypt's glory. Here is scholarship in its finest form, concerned with the humanity that has preceded us, and finding in man's past grandeur and failure much meaning for men of today.
S.C.O.R.E. for Life: The Secret Formula for Thinking Like a Champion
by Jim FanninHave you ever choked during a performance?Have you ever been told how much talent you have, yet you're not reaching it?Are you self-conscious or doubtful during performances?Does your level of concentration fluctuate wildly?Do you feel overwhelmed at times?We all dream of overcoming our challenges. We dream of the perfect job, achieving new wealth, of living the life we choose in harmony with the people we love. For many of us, the dream stops there. We wonder what leads some extraordinary people to confront and exceed their goals and compete at the highest level, while others run in place, distracted by fears and a sense of intimidation. We seek the insights that will liberate us from anxiety and self-doubt. In this book, Jim Fannin shares a collection of ideas and daily exercises that transform everyday performers into true champions.Using the secrets of Fannin's time-tested S.C.O.R.E. System (Self-Discipline, Concentration, Optimism, Relaxation, and Enjoyment), S.C.O.R.E. for Life shows you how to balance and apply these five principles in every arena of life. The result: more moments, days, and years performing and thinking in the state of flow we call the "Zone," and more of the results and success that matter. Every chapter includes reader-friendly tests and exercises, like the "90-Second Rule" (a lesson in discipline) and "The Palm Tree Versus the Oak Tree" (a lesson in adaptability).For more than thirty years, Jim Fannin has coached hundreds of top-performing athletes and business leaders, who testify to what the S.C.O.R.E. System can do. It is a tried and proven blueprint for realizing our extraordinary human potential and overcoming the fears and worries that hold us back. With commitment and consistent use of this success formula, you will blaze new paths to personal and professional achievement.
Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution
by Kenneth P. Dial, Neil Shubin, and Elizabeth L. Brainerd Neil Shubin Elizabeth L. BrainerdHow did flying birds evolve from running dinosaurs, terrestrial trotting tetrapods evolve from swimming fish, and whales return to swim in the sea? These are some of the great transformations in the 500-million-year history of vertebrate life. And with the aid of new techniques and approaches across a range of fields—work spanning multiple levels of biological organization from DNA sequences to organs and the physiology and ecology of whole organisms—we are now beginning to unravel the confounding evolutionary mysteries contained in the structure, genes, and fossil record of every living species. This book gathers a diverse team of renowned scientists to capture the excitement of these new discoveries in a collection that is both accessible to students and an important contribution to the future of its field. Marshaling a range of disciplines—from paleobiology to phylogenetics, developmental biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology—the contributors attack particular transformations in the head and neck, trunk, appendages such as fins and limbs, and the whole body, as well as offer synthetic perspectives. Illustrated throughout, Great Transformations in Vertebrate Evolution not only reveals the true origins of whales with legs, fish with elbows, wrists, and necks, and feathered dinosaurs, but also the relevance to our lives today of these extraordinary narratives of change.
Birth Figures: Early Modern Prints and the Pregnant Body
by Rebecca WhiteleyThe first full study of “birth figures” and their place in early modern knowledge-making. Birth figures are printed images of the pregnant womb, always shown in series, that depict the variety of ways in which a fetus can present for birth. Historian Rebecca Whiteley coined the term and here offers the first systematic analysis of the images’ creation, use, and impact. Whiteley reveals their origins in ancient medicine and explores their inclusion in many medieval gynecological manuscripts, focusing on their explosion in printed midwifery and surgical books in Western Europe from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. During this period, birth figures formed a key part of the visual culture of medicine and midwifery and were widely produced. They reflected and shaped how the pregnant body was known and treated. And by providing crucial bodily knowledge to midwives and surgeons, birth figures were also deeply entangled with wider cultural preoccupations with generation and creativity, female power and agency, knowledge and its dissemination, and even the condition of the human in the universe. Birth Figures studies how different kinds of people understood childbirth and engaged with midwifery manuals, from learned physicians to midwives to illiterate listeners. Rich and detailed, this vital history reveals the importance of birth figures in how midwifery was practiced and in how people, both medical professionals and lay readers, envisioned and understood the mysterious state of pregnancy.
Measuring the New World: Enlightenment Science and South America
by Neil SafierPrior to 1735, South America was terra incognita to many Europeans. But that year, the Paris Academy of Sciences sent a mission to the Spanish American province of Quito (in present-day Ecuador) to study the curvature of the earth at the Equator. Equipped with quadrants and telescopes, the mission’s participants referred to the transfer of scientific knowledge from Europe to the Andes as a “sacred fire” passing mysteriously through European astronomical instruments to observers in South America.By taking an innovative interdisciplinary look at the traces of this expedition, Measuring the New World examines the transatlantic flow of knowledge from West to East. Through ephemeral monuments and geographical maps, this book explores how the social and cultural worlds of South America contributed to the production of European scientific knowledge during the Enlightenment. Neil Safier uses the notebooks of traveling philosophers, as well as specimens from the expedition, to place this particular scientific endeavor in the larger context of early modern print culture and the emerging intellectual category of scientist as author.
Panzer III German Army Light Tank: North Africa El Alamein to Tunis, 1941–1943 (Tankcraft Ser. #40)
by Dennis OliverThe Pzkpfw III tank was the mainstay of the Panzer divisions during the Blitzkrieg era and made up the bulk of the armored force sent to North Africa. Although less heavily armored than many of its opponents it was sturdy and reliable and its main armament was the equal of any enemy weapon it was called upon to face. Operating in one of the most inhospitable environments on earth the Pzkpfw III was at the forefront of the dramatic advances of 1941 and the defensive efforts of the following year, all undertaken in the incredible vastness of the Libyan desert. This volume of the TankCraft series concludes the story of the tank’s North African service, examining the models that took part in the campaign beginning with the retreat from El Alamein and ending with the surrender of the last Axis forces in Tunisia in May 1943. Using archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Pzkpfw III and the units that operated this deservedly famous armored vehicle during the final battles in North Africa. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks.
Timing & Turnout: How Off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups
by Sarah F. AnziaPublic policy in the United States is the product of decisions made by more than 500,000 elected officials, and the vast majority of those officials are elected on days other than Election Day. And because far fewer voters turn out for off-cycle elections, that means the majority of officials in America are elected by a politically motivated minority of Americans. Sarah F. Anzia is the first to systemically address the effects of election timing on political outcomes, and her findings are eye-opening. The low turnout for off-cycle elections, Anzia argues, increases the influence of organized interest groups like teachers’ unions and municipal workers. While such groups tend to vote at high rates regardless of when the election is held, the low turnout in off-cycle years enhances the effectiveness of their mobilization efforts and makes them a proportionately larger bloc. Throughout American history, the issue of election timing has been a contentious one. Anzia’s book traces efforts by interest groups and political parties to change the timing of elections to their advantage, resulting in the electoral structures we have today. Ultimately, what might seem at first glance to be mundane matters of scheduling are better understood as tactics designed to distribute political power, determining who has an advantage in the electoral process and who will control government at the municipal, county, and state levels.
All Fixed Up: A Novel (Ciel Halligan #4)
by Linda GrimesA shapeshifting young woman is caught posing as an astronaut—and caught in a deadly conspiracy—in the fourth entry in this urban fantasy series.Ciel Halligan, aura adaptor extraordinaire, has a lot of experience filling in for her clients—as them. A rare genetic quirk gives her the ability to absorb human energy and project it back out in a flawless imitation. She’s hard at work, posing as a well-known and celebrated astronaut, about to make a stunning announcement on behalf of the space program . . . when the photographer documenting the job sees right through her aura. Worse, it soon becomes apparent that he not only knows Ciel’s not who she’s supposed to be, but he also means her harm.When Ciel’s elderly Aunt Helen—also an aura adaptor—is murdered in Central Park, and the same photographer shows up at the funeral, Ciel starts to feel even more exposed. Then more adaptors are killed in the same way, and she becomes terrified her friends and family are being systematically exterminated . . . and it’s starting to look like she’s the ultimate target. She turns to Billy Doyle, her best-friend-turned-boyfriend, for help, but when an unexpected crisis causes him to take off without a word, she’s left to rely on her not-so-former crush, CIA agent Mark Fielding . . .Staying alive, keeping control of her romantic life, and unraveling the mystery of why adaptors are being pursued becomes a harder balancing act than ever in this Ciel Halligan adventure from Linda Grimes.Praise for All Fixed Up“Grimes keeps the pot bubbling with humor, suspense, steamy sex, riddles, danger . . . oh, and more hot sex. Sure to please series regulars and fans of urban fantasy/mystery/romance.” —Kirkus Reviews
Making Shift Happen: Designing for Successful Environmental Behavior Change
by Nya Van Leuvan Lauren Highleyman Rod Fujita Ashleigh KellermanNautilus Book Award Winner: An “engagingly written” behavioral science-based guide to tackling our urgent environmental problems (Robert B. Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion).To create a sustainable future and achieve positive, durable change, we must design solutions based directly on how people think, make decisions, and act. From hotels that save water (and money) using simple signage to energy suppliers that boost participation in renewable energy programs through mere enrollment-form tweaks, it’s clear that shifting the behavior of millions for the better is possible.Based on decades of research into what drives behavior change, Making Shift Happen provides a suite of powerful tools to transform the world. It features A-to-Z guidance on how to design a behavior change initiative—from choosing the right audience and uncovering what drives their behavior to designing, prototyping, testing, and implementation. Clear instructions and real-world examples empower you to apply hundreds of behavioral science solutions including:Using social norms to spread positive environmental behaviorsSelecting and testing stories, metaphors, and values to frame information for each audienceCatalyzing action by aligning your initiative with your audience’s personal and social motivatorsBreaking bad habits and building positive onesCapturing your audience’s attention and reducing barriers to actionConnecting people with nature and building empathy for the environment and its inhabitantsMaking Shift Happen is a must-have guide for practitioners in non-profits, governments, and businesses looking to design successful campaigns and initiatives that shift behaviors and mindsets toward positive environmental outcomes and a better future for all.“Completely fascinating—we’ve learned a lot about the ways minds work in the last decades and that may help us figure out how to appeal to our better angels more effectively than in the past. Rest assured that people who want to sell us junk are paying attention to these insights—the rest of us better do so too!” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature