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Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works
by Ash MauryaWe're building more products today than ever before, but most of them fail--not because we can't complete what we want to build but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product. What we need is a systematic process for quickly vetting product ideas and raising our odds of success. That's the promise of Running Lean.In this inspiring book, Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving product/market fit for your fledgling venture. You'll learn ideas and concepts from several innovative methodologies, including the Lean Startup, business model design, design thinking, and Jobs-to-be-Done. This new edition introduces the continuous innovation framework and follows one entrepreneur's journey from initial vision to a business model that works.Deconstruct your idea using a one-page Lean CanvasStress-test your idea for desirability, viability, and feasibilityDefine key milestones charted on a traction roadmapMaximize your team's efforts for speed, learning, and focusPrioritize the right actions at the right timeLearn how to conduct effective customer interviewsEngage your customers throughout the development cycleContinually test your product with smaller, faster iterationsFind a repeatable and scalable business model
High Performance MySQL: Proven Strategies for Operating at Scale
by Silvia Botros Jeremy TinleyHow can you realize MySQL's full power? With High Performance MySQL, you'll learn advanced techniques for everything from setting service-level objectives to designing schemas, indexes, and queries to tuning your server, operating system, and hardware to achieve your platform's full potential. This guide also teaches database administrators safe and practical ways to scale applications through replication, load balancing, high availability, and failover.Updated to reflect recent advances in cloud- and self-hosted MySQL, InnoDB performance, and new features and tools, this revised edition helps you design a relational data platform that will scale with your business. You'll learn best practices for database security along with hard-earned lessons in both performance and database stability.Dive into MySQL's architecture, including key facts about its storage enginesLearn how server configuration works with your hardware and deployment choicesMake query performance part of your software delivery processExamine enhancements to MySQL's replication and high availabilityCompare different MySQL offerings in managed cloud environmentsExplore MySQL's full stack optimization from application-side configuration to server tuningTurn traditional database management tasks into automated processes
Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate
by null David E. SettjeHighlights Watergate as a critical turning point in Christian engagement in US politicsThe Watergate scandal was one of the most infamous events in American democratic history. Faith in the government plummeted, leaving the nation feeling betrayed and unsure who could be trusted anymore. In Evil Deeds in High Places, David E. Settje examines how Christian institutions reacted to this moral and ethical collapse, and the ways in which they chose to assert their moral authority.Settje argues that Watergate was a turning point for spurring Christian engagement with politics. While American Christians had certainly already been active in the public sphere, these events motivated a more urgent engagement in response, and served to pave the way for conservatives to push more fully into political power.Historians have carefully analyzed the judicial, media, congressional, and presidential actions surrounding Watergate, but there has been very little consideration of popular reactions of Americans across the political spectrum. Though this book does not aspire to offer a comprehensive picture of America’s citizenry, by examining the variety of Protestant Christian experiences—those more conservative, those more liberal, and those in between—and by incorporating analyses of both white and black Christian reactions, it captures a significant swath of the American population at the time, providing one of the only studies to examine how everyday Americans viewed the events of Watergate. Grasping the dynamics of Christian responses to Watergate enables us to comprehend more completely that volatile moment in US history, and provides important context to make sense of reactions to our more recent political turmoil.
China, The United States, and the Future of Latin America: U.S.-China Relations, Volume III (U.S.-China Relations #3)
by Edited by David B. H. DenoonProvides insight into U.S. and Chinese involvement in aid, trade, direct investment and strategic ties in Latin AmericaIn recent years, China has become the largest trading partner for more than half the countries in Latin America, and demonstrated major commitments in aid and direct investment in various parts of the region. China has also made a number of strategic commitments to countries like Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela which have long-standing policies opposing U.S. influence in the region. China, the United States, and the Future of Latin America posits that this activity is a direct challenge to the role of the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean. Part of a three-volume series analyzing U.S.-China relations in parts of the world where neither country is dominant, this volume analyzes the interactions between the U.S., China, and Latin America. The book series has so far considered the differences in operating styles between China and the U.S. in Central Asia and Southeast Asia. This third volume unpacks the implications of competing U.S. and Chinese interests in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, and China’s commitments in Nicaragua and Venezuela. This volume draws upon a variety of policy experts, focusing on the viewpoints of South American and Caribbean scholars as well as scholars from outside states. China’s new global reach and its ambitions, as well as the U.S. response, are analyzed in detail.A nuanced examination of current complexities and future implications, China, the United States and the Future of Latin America provides readers with varied perspectives on the changing economic and strategic picture in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Practice of Islam in America: An Introduction
by Edward E. Curtis, IVAn introduction to the ways in which ordinary Muslim Americans practice their faith. Muslims have always been part of the United States, but very little is known about how Muslim Americans practice their religion. How do they pray? What’s it like to go on pilgrimage to Mecca? What rituals accompany the birth of a child, a wedding, or the death of a loved one? What holidays do Muslims celebrate and what charities do they support? How do they learn about the Qur’an? The Practice of Islam in America introduces readers to the way Islam is lived in the United States, offering vivid portraits of Muslim American life passages, ethical actions, religious holidays, prayer, pilgrimage, and other religious activities. It takes readers into homes, religious congregations, schools, workplaces, cemeteries, restaurants—and all the way to Mecca—to understand the diverse religious practices of Muslim Americans. Going beyond a theoretical discussion of what Muslims are supposed to do, this volume focuses on what they actually do. As the volume reveals, their religious practices are shaped by their racial and ethnic identity, their gender and sexual orientation, and their sectarian identity, among other social factors. Readers gain practical information about Islamic religion while also coming to understand how the day-to-day realities of American life shape Muslim American practice.
The Secret Life of Stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, How Understanding Intellectual Disability Transforms the Way We Read
by null Michael BérubéHow an understanding of intellectual disability transforms the pleasures of readingNarrative informs everything we think, do, plan, remember, and imagine. We tell stories and we listen to stories, gauging their “well-formedness” within a couple of years of learning to walk and talk. Some argue that the capacity to understand narrative is innate to our species; others claim that while that might be so, the invention of writing then re-wired our brains. In The Secret Life of Stories, Michael Bérubé tells a dramatically different tale, in a compelling account of how an understanding of intellectual disability can transform our understanding of narrative. Instead of focusing on characters with disabilities, he shows how ideas about intellectual disability inform an astonishingly wide array of narrative strategies, providing a new and startling way of thinking through questions of time, self-reflexivity, and motive in the experience of reading. Interweaving his own stories with readings of such texts as Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Philip K. Dick’s Martian Time-Slip, Bérubé puts his theory into practice, stretching the purview of the study of literature and the role of disability studies within it.Armed only with the tools of close reading, Bérubé demonstrates the immensely generative possibilities in the ways disability is deployed within fiction, finding in them powerful meditations on what it means to be a social being, a sentient creature with an awareness of mortality and causality—and sentience itself. Persuasive and witty, Michael Bérubé engages Harry Potter fans and scholars of literature alike. For all readers, The Secret Life of Stories will fundamentally change the way we think about the way we read.
Wife, Inc.: The Business of Marriage in the Twenty-First Century (Critical Cultural Communication #8)
by null Suzanne LeonardA fascinating look at the changing role of wives in modern America After a half century of battling for gender equality, women have been freed from the necessity of securing a husband for economic stability, sexual fulfillment, or procreation. Marriage is a choice, and increasingly women (and men) are opting out. Yet despite these changes, the cultural power of marriage has burgeoned. What was once an obligation has become an exclusive club into which heterosexual women with the right amount of self-discipline may win entry. The newly exalted professionalized wife is no longer reliant on her husband’s status or money; instead she can wield her own power provided she can successfully manage the business of being a wife. Wife, Inc. tells a fiercely contemporary story revealing that today’s wives do not labor in kitchens or even homes. Instead, the work of wifedom occurs in online dating sites, on reality television, in social media, and on the campaign trail. Dating, marital commitment, and married life have been reconfigured. No longer the stuff of marriage vows, these realms are now controlled by brand management and marketability. To prosper, women must appear confident, empowered, and sexually savvy. Guiding readers through the stages of the “wife-cycle,” Suzanne Leonard follows women as they date, prepare to wed, and toil as wives, using examples from popular television, film, and literature, as well as mass market news, women’s magazines, new media, and advice culture. The first major study to focus on this new definition of “working wives,” Wife, Inc. reveals how marriage occupies a newly professionalized role in the lives of American women. Being a wife is a business that takes a lot more than a vow to maintain—this book tells that story.
Sex Work Today: Erotic Labor in the Twenty-First Century
by Bernadette Barton, Barbara G. Brents, and Angela JonesA cutting-edge volume on current trends in sex work, from sugar relationships and cyber brothels to financial domination, sex worker activism, and feminist pornSex is for sale in more ways than ever. It can be bought and sold online, in sex clubs, on the street, and around the world. As with many industries, discrimination, exploitation, and inequality persist in sex work. Yet it also offers autonomy, job satisfaction, and even pleasurable experiences for those involved. Sex Work Today explores these contradictions, offering an intimate look at the benefits and challenges of sex work across geographic contexts.Featuring thirty-one original essays by sex workers, advocates, researchers, and activists, Sex Work Today is the first compilation of research on new forms of digital sex such as camming, sugar dating, and AI sex dolls. Providing a lens to understand contemporary labor dynamics and the nature of sex work itself, this collection captures formerly ignored aspects of the sex industry including: fatphobia and disability; transmasculine and nonbinary sex workers; racialized emotional labor in the digital sex industry; high job satisfaction among professional dominatrixes; and sex worker scholars.With federal policies ostensibly aimed at combating sex trafficking–affecting all sex workers–understanding this industry is more vital than ever. Decentering Western, white, cisgender voices, Sex Work Today underscores the global repercussions of these misaligned policies, which make sex work more challenging and less safe, and provides valuable insights for those seeking to shape policies, challenge prejudices, and foster a safer and more equitable world for all.
Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (Intersections #18)
by null Moya BaileyWhere racism and sexism meet—an understanding of anti-Black misogynyWhen Moya Bailey first coined the term misogynoir, she defined it as the ways anti-Black and misogynistic representation shape broader ideas about Black women, particularly in visual culture and digital spaces. She had no idea that the term would go viral, touching a cultural nerve and quickly entering into the lexicon. Misogynoir now has its own Wikipedia page and hashtag, and has been featured on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time. In Misogynoir Transformed, Bailey delves into her groundbreaking concept, highlighting Black women’s digital resistance to anti-Black misogyny on YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, and other platforms. At a time when Black women are depicted as more ugly, deficient, hypersexual, and unhealthy than their non-Black counterparts, Bailey explores how Black women have bravely used social-media platforms to confront misogynoir in a number of courageous—and, most importantly, effective—ways. Focusing on queer and trans Black women, she shows us the importance of carving out digital spaces, where communities are built around queer Black webshows and hashtags like #GirlsLikeUs. Bailey shows how Black women actively reimagine the world by engaging in powerful forms of digital resistance at a time when anti-Black misogyny is thriving on social media. A groundbreaking work, Misogynoir Transformed highlights Black women’s remarkable efforts to disrupt mainstream narratives, subvert negative stereotypes, and reclaim their lives.
Keywords for Gender and Sexuality Studies (Keywords #13)
by Kyla Wazana Tompkins Aren Z. Aizura Aimee Bahng Karma R. Chávez Mishuana Goeman Amber Jamilla MusserIntroduces key terms, debates, and histories for feminist studies in gender and sexualityKeywords for Gender and Sexuality Studies introduces readers to a set of terms that will aid them in understanding the central methodological and political stakes currently energizing feminist and queer studies. The volume deepens the analyses of this field by highlighting justice-oriented intersectional movements and foregrounding Black, Indigenous, and women of color feminisms; transnational feminisms; queer of color critique; trans, disability, and fat studies; feminist science studies; and critiques of the state, law, and prisons that emerge from queer and women of color justice movements. Many of the keywords featured in this publication call attention to the fundamental assumptions of humanism’s political and intellectual debates—from the racialized contours of property and ownership to eugenicist discourses of improvement and development. Interventions to these frameworks arise out of queer, feminist and anti-racist engagements with matter and ecology as well as efforts to imagine forms of relationality beyond settler colonial and imperialist epistemologiesReflecting the interdisciplinary breadth of the field, this collection of seventy essays by scholars across the social sciences and the humanities weaves together methodologies from science and technology studies, affect theory, and queer historiographies, as well as Black Studies, Latinx Studies, Asian American, and Indigenous Studies. Taken together, these essays move alongside the distinct histories and myriad solidarities of the fields to construct the much awaited Keywords for Gender and Sexuality Studies.
American Fatherhood: A History
by null Jürgen MartschukatExplores the surprising diversity of fathers and fatherhood throughout American history and society The nuclear family has been endlessly praised as the bedrock of American society, even though there has rarely been a time in history when a majority of Americans lived in such families. This book deconstructs the myth of the nuclear family by presenting the rich diversity of family lives in American history from the American Revolution to the twenty-first century. To tell this story, Jürgen Martschukat focuses on fathers and their relations to families and American society. Using biographical close-ups of twelve different characters, each embedded in historical context, American Fatherhood provides a much more realistic picture of how fatherhood has been performed within different kinds of families. Each protagonist covers a crucial period or event in American history, presents a different family constellation, and makes a different argument with regard to how American society is governed through the family.
Art in a Democracy: Selected Plays of Roadside Theater, Volume 1: The Appalachian History Plays, 1975–1989
by Ben FinkSeminal plays and essays reveal the radical origins and approach of Appalachia’s Roadside TheaterThis two-volume anthology tells the story of Roadside Theater’s first 45 years and includes nine award-winning original play scripts; ten essays by authors from different disciplines and generations, which explore the plays’ social, economic, and political circumstances; and a critical recounting of the theater’s history from 1975 through 2020. The plays in Volume 1 offer a people’s history of the Appalachian coalfields, from the European incursion through the American War in Vietnam.
Applied Machine Learning and AI for Engineers: Solve Business Problems That Can't Be Solved Algorithmically
by Jeff ProsiseWhile many introductory guides to AI are calculus books in disguise, this one mostly eschews the math. Instead, author Jeff Prosise helps engineers and software developers build an intuitive understanding of AI to solve business problems. Need to create a system to detect the sounds of illegal logging in the rainforest, analyze text for sentiment, or predict early failures in rotating machinery? This practical book teaches you the skills necessary to put AI and machine learning to work at your company. Applied Machine Learning and AI for Engineers provides examples and illustrations from the AI and ML course Prosise teaches at companies and research institutions worldwide. There's no fluff and no scary equations—just a fast start for engineers and software developers, complete with hands-on examples. This book helps you: Learn what machine learning and deep learning are and what they can accomplishUnderstand how popular learning algorithms work and when to apply themBuild machine learning models in Python with Scikit-Learn, and neural networks with Keras and TensorFlowTrain and score regression models and binary and multiclass classification modelsBuild facial recognition models and object detection modelsBuild language models that respond to natural-language queries and translate text to other languagesUse Cognitive Services to infuse AI into the apps that you write
Becoming SRE: First Steps Toward Reliability for You and Your Organization
by David N. Blank-EdelmanDo you wish the existing books on site reliability engineering started at the beginning? Do you wish someone would walk you through how to become an SRE, how to think like an SRE, or how to build and grow a successful SRE function in your organization? Becoming SRE addresses all of these needs and more with three interconnected sections: the essential groundwork for understanding SRE and SRE culture, advice for individuals on becoming an SRE, and guidance for organizations on creating and developing a thriving SRE practice. Acting as your personal and personable guide, author David Blank-Edelman takes you through subjects like: SRE mindset, SRE culture, and SRE advocacyWhat you need to get started and hired in SRE and what the job will be like when you get thereWhat you need to bring SRE into an organization and what is required for a good organizational fit so it can thrive thereHow to work with your business folks and management around SREHow SRE can grow and mature in an organization over time Ready to become an SRE or introduce SRE into your organization? This book is here to help.
Practical Machine Learning for Computer Vision: End-to-End Machine Learning for Images
by Valliappa Lakshmanan Martin Görner Ryan GillardThis practical book shows you how to employ machine learning models to extract information from images. ML engineers and data scientists will learn how to solve a variety of image problems including classification, object detection, autoencoders, image generation, counting, and captioning with proven ML techniques. This book provides a great introduction to end-to-end deep learning: dataset creation, data preprocessing, model design, model training, evaluation, deployment, and interpretability.Google engineers Valliappa Lakshmanan, Martin Görner, and Ryan Gillard show you how to develop accurate and explainable computer vision ML models and put them into large-scale production using robust ML architecture in a flexible and maintainable way. You'll learn how to design, train, evaluate, and predict with models written in TensorFlow or Keras.You'll learn how to:Design ML architecture for computer vision tasksSelect a model (such as ResNet, SqueezeNet, or EfficientNet) appropriate to your taskCreate an end-to-end ML pipeline to train, evaluate, deploy, and explain your modelPreprocess images for data augmentation and to support learnabilityIncorporate explainability and responsible AI best practicesDeploy image models as web services or on edge devicesMonitor and manage ML models
Analytics Engineering with SQL and dbt: Building Meaningful Data Models at Scale
by Rui Pedro Machado Helder RussaWith the shift from data warehouses to data lakes, data now lands in repositories before it's been transformed, enabling engineers to model raw data into clean, well-defined datasets. dbt (data build tool) helps you take data further. This practical book shows data analysts, data engineers, BI developers, and data scientists how to create a true self-service transformation platform through the use of dynamic SQL.Authors Rui Machado from Monstarlab and Hélder Russa from Jumia show you how to quickly deliver new data products by focusing more on value delivery and less on architectural and engineering aspects. If you know your business well and have the technical skills to model raw data into clean, well-defined datasets, you'll learn how to design and deliver data models without any technical influence.With this book, you'll learn:What dbt is and how a dbt project is structuredHow dbt fits into the data engineering and analytics worldsHow to collaborate on building data modelsThe main tools and architectures for building useful, functional data modelsHow to fit dbt into data warehousing and laking architectureHow to build tests for data transformations
Learning Modern C++ for Finance: Foundations for Quantitative Programming
by Daniel HansonThis practical book demonstrates why C++ is still one of the dominant production-quality languages for financial applications and systems. Many programmers believe that C++ is too difficult to learn. Author Daniel Hanson demonstrates that this is no longer the case, thanks to modern features added to the C++ Standard beginning in 2011.Financial programmers will discover how to leverage C++ abstractions that enable safe implementation of financial models. You’ll also explore how popular open source libraries provide additional weapons for attacking mathematical problems. C++ programmers unfamiliar with financial applications also benefit from this handy guide.Learn C++ basics from a modern perspective: syntax, inheritance, polymorphism, composition, STL containers, and algorithmsDive into newer features and abstractions including functional programming using lambdas, task-based concurrency, and smart pointersImplement basic numerical routines in modern C++Understand best practices for writing clean and efficient code
Go Cookbook: Expert Solutions for Commonly Needed Go Tasks
by Sau Sheong ChangGo is an increasingly popular language for programming everything from web applications to distributed network services. This practical guide provides recipes to help you unravel common problems and perform useful tasks when working with Go. Each recipe includes self-contained code solutions that you can freely use, along with a discussion of how and why they work. Programmers new to Go can quickly ramp up their knowledge while accomplishing useful tasks, and experienced Go developers can save time by cutting and pasting proven code directly into their applications.Recipes include:Creating a moduleCalling code from another moduleReturning and handling an errorConverting strings to numbers (or converting numbers to strings)Modifying multiple characters in a stringCreating substrings from a stringCapturing string inputAnd so much more
The Cloud Data Lake: A Guide to Building Robust Cloud Data Architecture
by Rukmani GopalanMore organizations than ever understand the importance of data lake architectures for deriving value from their data. Building a robust, scalable, and performant data lake remains a complex proposition, however, with a buffet of tools and options that need to work together to provide a seamless end-to-end pipeline from data to insights.This book provides a concise yet comprehensive overview on the setup, management, and governance of a cloud data lake. Author Rukmani Gopalan, a product management leader and data enthusiast, guides data architects and engineers through the major aspects of working with a cloud data lake, from design considerations and best practices to data format optimizations, performance optimization, cost management, and governance.Learn the benefits of a cloud-based big data strategy for your organizationGet guidance and best practices for designing performant and scalable data lakesExamine architecture and design choices, and data governance principles and strategiesBuild a data strategy that scales as your organizational and business needs increaseImplement a scalable data lake in the cloudUse cloud-based advanced analytics to gain more value from your data
Kubernetes Patterns: Reusable Elements for Designing Cloud Native Applications
by Bilgin Ibryam Roland HussThe way developers design, build, and run software has changed significantly with the evolution of microservices and containers. These modern architectures offer new distributed primitives that require a different set of practices than many developers, tech leads, and architects are accustomed to. With this focused guide, Bilgin Ibryam and Roland Huss provide common reusable patterns and principles for designing and implementing cloud native applications on Kubernetes.Each pattern includes a description of the problem and a Kubernetes-specific solution. All patterns are backed by and demonstrated with concrete code examples. This updated edition is ideal for developers and architects familiar with basic Kubernetes concepts who want to learn how to solve common cloud native challenges with proven design patterns.You'll explore:Foundational patterns covering core principles and practices for building and running container-based cloud native applicationsBehavioral patterns that delve into finer-grained concepts for managing various types of container and platform interactionsStructural patterns for organizing containers within a Pod for addressing specific use casesConfiguration patterns that provide insight into how application configurations can be handled in KubernetesSecurity patterns for hardening the access to cloud native applications running on KubernetesAdvanced patterns covering more complex topics such as operators and autoscaling
Learning OpenTelemetry: Setting Up and Operating a Modern Observability System
by Ted Young Austin ParkerOpenTelemetry is a revolution in observability data. Instead of running multiple uncoordinated pipelines, OpenTelemetry provides users with a single integrated stream of data, providing multiple sources of high-quality telemetry data: tracing, metrics, logs, RUM, eBPF, and more. This practical guide shows you how to set up, operate, and troubleshoot the OpenTelemetry observability system.Authors Austin Parker, head of developer relations at Lightstep and OpenTelemetry Community Maintainer, and Ted Young, cofounder of the OpenTelemetry project, cover every OpenTelemetry component, as well as observability best practices for many popular cloud, platform, and data services such as Kubernetes and AWS Lambda. You'll learn how OpenTelemetry enables OSS libraries and services to provide their own native instrumentation—a first in the industry.Ideal for application developers, OSS maintainers, operators and infrastructure teams, and managers and team leaders, this book guides you through:The principles of modern observabilityAll OpenTelemetry components—and how they fit togetherA practical approach to instrumenting platforms and applicationsMethods for installing, operating, and troubleshooting an OpenTelemetry-based observability solutionWays to roll out and maintain end-to-end observability across a large organizationHow to write and maintain consistent, high-quality instrumentation without a lot of work
Collaborative Product Design: Help Any Team Build a Better Experience
by Austin GovellaYou can launch a new app or website in days by piecing together frameworks and hosting on AWS. Implementation is no longer the problem. But that speed to market just makes it tougher to confirm that your team is actually building the right product.Ideal for agile teams and lean organizations, this guide includes 11 practical tools to help you collaborate on strategy, user research, and UX. Hundreds of real-world tips help you facilitate productive meetings and create good collaboration habits. Designers, developers, and product owners will learn how to build better products much faster than before.Topics include:Foundations for collaboration and facilitation: Learn how to work better together with your team, stakeholders, and clientsProject strategy: Help teams align with shared goals and visionUser research and personas: Identify and understand your users and share that vision with the broader organizationJourney maps: Build better touchpoints that improve conversion and retentionInterfaces and prototypes: Rightsize sketches and wireframes so you can test and iterate quickly
The Book of Charlatans (Library of Arabic Literature #64)
by null Jamāl al-Dīn al-JawbarīUncovering the professional secrets of con artists and swindlers in the medieval Middle EastThe Book of Charlatans is a comprehensive guide to trickery and scams as practiced in the thirteenth century in the cities of the Middle East, especially in Syria and Egypt. The author, al-Jawbarī, was well versed in the practices he describes and may well have been a reformed charlatan himself. Divided into thirty chapters, his book reveals the secrets of everyone from “Those Who Claim to be Prophets” to “Those Who Claim to Have Leprosy” and “Those Who Dye Horses.” The material is informed in part by the author’s own experience with alchemy, astrology, and geomancy, and in part by his extensive research. The work is unique in its systematic, detailed, and inclusive approach to a subject that is by nature arcane and that has relevance not only for social history but also for the history of science. Covering everything from invisible writing to doctoring gemstones and quack medicine, The Book of Charlatans opens a fascinating window into a subculture of beggars’ guilds and professional con artists in the medieval Arab world.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
From Dust They Came: Government Camps and the Religion of Reform in New Deal California (North American Religions #18)
by null Jonathan H. EbelThe untold story of the federal government’s Depression-era effort to redeem Dust Bowl refugees in rural California through religionIn the midst of the Great Depression, punished by crippling drought and deepening poverty, hundreds of thousands of families left the Great Plains and the Southwest to look for work in California’s rich agricultural valleys. In response to the scene of destitute white families living in filthy shelters built of cardboard, twigs, and refuse, reform-minded New Deal officials built a series of camps to provide them with shelter and community.Using the extensive archives of the federal migratory camp system, From Dust They Came tells the story of the religious dynamics in and around migratory farm labor camps in agricultural California established and operated by the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration. Jonathan H. Ebel makes the case that the camps served as mission sites for the conversion of migrants to more modern ways of living and believing. Though the ideas of virtuous citizenship put forward by the camp administrators were framed as secular, they rested on a foundation of Protestantism. At the same time, many of the migrants were themselves conservative or charismatic Protestants who had other ideas for how their religion intended them to be.By looking at the camps as missionary spaces, Ebel shows that this New Deal program was animated both by humanitarian concern and by the belief that these poor, white migrants and their religious practices were unfit for life in a modernized, secular world. Innovative and compelling, From Dust They Came is the first book to reveal the braiding of secularism, religion, and modernity through and around the lives of Dust Bowl migrants and New Deal reformers.
In Darfur: An Account of the Sultanate and Its People, Volume Two (Library of Arabic Literature #15)
by null Muḥammad al-TūnisīA merchant’s account of his travels through an independent African state Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Tunisi (d. 1274/1857) belonged to a family of Tunisian merchants trading with Egypt and what is now Sudan. Al-Tunisi was raised in Cairo and a graduate of al-Azhar. In 1803, at the age of fourteen, al-Tunisi set off for the Sultanate of Darfur, where his father had decamped ten years earlier. He followed the Forty Days Road, was reunited with his father, and eventually took over the management of the considerable estates granted to his father by the sultan of Darfur. In Darfur is al-Tunisi’s remarkable account of his ten-year sojourn in this independent state. In Volume Two al-Tunisi describes the geography of the region, the customs of Darfur’s petty kings, court life and the clothing of its rulers, marriage customs, eunuchs, illnesses, food, hunting, animals, currencies, plants, magic, divination, and dances. In Darfur combines literature, history, ethnography, linguistics, and travel adventure, and most unusually for its time, includes fifty-two illustrations, all drawn by the author. In Darfur is a rare example of an Arab description of Africa on the eve of Western colonization and vividly evokes a world in which travel was untrammeled by bureaucracy, borders were fluid, and startling coincidences appear almost mundane.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.