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Run Wild!: Outdoor Games and Adventures
by Jo Schofield Fiona DanksReplace screen time with fresh air fun. “Here’s a book that will bring the ‘great’ back into the great outdoors.” —Michael Morpurgo, author of War HorseFollowing the success of Nature’s Playground, Go Wild!, and Make it Wild!, in their latest book, Run Wild!, Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks focus on inspiring children of all ages.“[Run Wild!] introduces a cornucopia of ideas for outdoor activities, along with mesmerizing color photos of children and teens creatively enjoying themselves in fields, woods, and backyards, and at rivers and beaches. The text and safety tips are aimed at parents and counselors organizing activities in the wild, but the high-quality color photos will draw a younger audience as well . . . From skimming stones to making leaf masks to whittling walking sticks to following treasure trails, here’s an enticing array of ideas for outdoor fun and wilderness discovery.” —Booklist
Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report)
by Avi Goldfarb, Shane M. Greenstein, and Catherine E. TuckerAs the cost of storing, sharing, and analyzing data has decreased, economic activity has become increasingly digital. But while the effects of digital technology and improved digital communication have been explored in a variety of contexts, the impact on economic activity—from consumer and entrepreneurial behavior to the ways in which governments determine policy—is less well understood. Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy explores the economic impact of digitization, with each chapter identifying a promising new area of research. The Internet is one of the key drivers of growth in digital communication, and the first set of chapters discusses basic supply-and-demand factors related to access. Later chapters discuss new opportunities and challenges created by digital technology and describe some of the most pressing policy issues. As digital technologies continue to gain in momentum and importance, it has become clear that digitization has features that do not fit well into traditional economic models. This suggests a need for a better understanding of the impact of digital technology on economic activity, and Economic Analysis of the Digital Economy brings together leading scholars to explore this emerging area of research.
Layout in Pages '09: The Mini Missing Manual
by Josh ClarkPages '09 is more than just a word processor. It lets you create gorgeous page layouts for glossy newsletters, catalogs, brochures, greeting cards-you name it. This eBook makes you an instant expert in Pages' layout features. You'll learn how to arrange your text so it really flows and how to complement it with images, sounds, and movies.
Java Generics and Collections: Speed Up the Java Development Process
by Maurice Naftalin Philip WadlerThis comprehensive guide shows you how to master the most importantchanges to Java since it was first released. Generics and the greatlyexpanded collection libraries have tremendously increased the power ofJava 5 and Java 6. But they have also confused many developers whohaven't known how to take advantage of these new features.Java Generics and Collections covers everything from the mostbasic uses of generics to the strangest corner cases. It teaches youeverything you need to know about the collections libraries, so you'llalways know which collection is appropriate for any given task, andhow to use it.Topics covered include:Fundamentals of generics: type parameters and generic methodsOther new features: boxing and unboxing, foreach loops, varargsSubtyping and wildcardsEvolution not revolution: generic libraries with legacy clients andgeneric clients with legacy librariesGenerics and reflectionDesign patterns for genericsSets, Queues, Lists, Maps, and their implementationsConcurrent programming and thread safety with collectionsPerformance implications of different collectionsGenerics and the new collection libraries they inspired take Java to anew level. If you want to take your software development practice toa new level, this book is essential reading.Philip Wadler is Professor of Theoretical Computer Science at theUniversity of Edinburgh, where his research focuses on the design ofprogramming languages. He is a co-designer of GJ, work thatbecame the basis for generics in Sun's Java 5.0.Maurice Naftalin is Technical Director at Morningside Light Ltd., a software consultancy in the United Kingdom. He has most recently served as an architect and mentor at NSB Retail Systems plc, and as the leader of the client development team of a major UK government social service system."A brilliant exposition of generics. By far the best book on thetopic, it provides a crystal clear tutorial that starts with thebasics and ends leaving the reader with a deep understanding of boththe use and design of generics."Gilad Bracha, Java Generics Lead, Sun Microsystems
Essential SharePoint 2007: A Practical Guide for Users, Administrators and Developers
by Jeff WebbIf you're considering the vastly improved 2007 version of SharePoint, this concise, practical and friendly guide will teach you how to get the most from the latest version of Microsoft's information-sharing and collaboration platform. Essential SharePoint 2007 demonstrates how your business can use SharePoint to control documents, structure workflow, and share information over the Web using standard tools business users already know -- Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.Written in a conversational tone by internationally recognized SharePoint consultant and trainer Jeff Webb, this book helps SharePoint administrators, site owners, and power users quickly gain the skills necessary to perform a wide variety of tasks for intranet and extranet web sites, and explains what's new in SharePoint 2007 for experienced SharePoint 2003 administrators. Essential SharePoint 2007 teaches you how to:Use SharePoint 2007 with Outlook, Word and Excel, and as a document management tool, replacing, for example, shared network drives with librariesBuild and customize sites, lists, libraries and web parts for intranets and extranetsUse SharePoint 2007 for team communication through blogs, wikis, surveys, and RSS and email alertsBuild a SharePoint workflow applicationCreate and program web parts in order to deliver custom services and data to a siteDeploy and administer SharePoint 2007Each chapter ends with a summary of best practices advocated by the author, and the first few chapters of the book are ideal as training materials for end users. Later chapters give developers and administrators tools not only to keep company sites running smoothly, but also to customize and extend them. The book also contains several appendices with a glossary of terms and hard-to-find information.Essential SharePoint 2007 is a one-stop task-oriented guide for learning what's necessary to make this tool a vital part of team productivity.
DocBook 5: The Official Documentation for DocBook
by Norman Walsh Richard L. HamiltonIf you need a reliable tool for technical documentation, this clear and concise reference will help you take advantage of DocBook, the popular XML schema originally developed to document computer and hardware projects. DocBook 5.0 has been expanded and simplified to address documentation needs in other fields, and it's quickly becoming the tool of choice for many content providers.DocBook 5: The Definitive Guide is the complete, official documentation of DocBook 5.0. You'll find everything you need to know to use DocBook 5.0's features-including its improved content model-whether you're new to DocBook or an experienced user of previous versions.Learn how to write DocBook XML documentsUnderstand DocBook 5.0's elements and attributes, and how they fit togetherDetermine whether your documents conform to the DocBook schemaLearn about options for publishing DocBook to various output formatsCustomize the DocBook schema to meet your needsGet additional information about DocBook editing and processing
Java Network Programming: Developing Networked Applications (Java Ser.)
by Elliotte Rusty HaroldThis practical guide provides a complete introduction to developing network programs with Java. You’ll learn how to use Java’s network class library to quickly and easily accomplish common networking tasks such as writing multithreaded servers, encrypting communications, broadcasting to the local network, and posting data to server-side programs.Author Elliotte Rusty Harold provides complete working programs to illustrate the methods and classes he describes. This thoroughly revised fourth edition covers REST, SPDY, asynchronous I/O, and many other recent technologies.Explore protocols that underlie the Internet, such as TCP/IP and UDP/IPLearn how Java’s core I/O API handles network input and outputDiscover how the InetAddress class helps Java programs interact with DNSLocate, identify, and download network resources with Java’s URI and URL classesDive deep into the HTTP protocol, including REST, HTTP headers, and cookiesWrite servers and network clients, using Java’s low-level socket classesManage many connections at the same time with the nonblocking I/O
PDF Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools
by Sid StewardPDF--to most of the world it stands for that rather tiresome format used for documents downloaded from the web. Slow to load and slower to print, hopelessly unsearchable, and all but impossible to cut and paste from, the Portable Document Format doesn't inspire much affection in the average user. But PDFs done right is another story. Those who know the ins and outs of this format know that it can be much more than electronic paper. Flexible, compact, interactive, and even searchable, PDF is the ideal way to present content across multiple platforms.PDF Hacks unveils the true promise of Portable Document Format, going way beyond the usual PDF as paged output mechanism. PDF expert Sid Steward draws from his years of analyzing, extending, authoring, and embellishing PDF documents to present 100 clever hacks--tools, tips, quick-and-dirty or not-so-obvious solutions to common problems. PDF Hacks will show you how to create PDF documents that are far more powerful than simple representations of paper pages. The hacks in the book cover the full range of PDF functionality, from the simple to the more complex, including generating, manipulating, annotating, and consuming PDF information. You'll learn how to manage content in PDF, navigate it, and reuse it as necessary. Far more than another guide to Adobe Acrobat, the book covers a variety of readily available tools for generating, deploying, and editing PDF. The little-known tips and tricks in this book are ideal for anyone who works with PDF on a regular basis, including web developers, pre-press users, forms creators, and those who generate PDF for distribution. Whether you want to fine-tune and debug your existing PDF documents or explore the full potential the format offers, PDF Hacks will turn you into a PDF power user.
Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam (O'reilly Ser.)
by Gary A. DonahuePick up where certification exams leave off. With this practical, in-depth guide to the entire network infrastructure, you’ll learn how to deal with real Cisco networks, rather than the hypothetical situations presented on exams like the CCNA. Network Warrior takes you step by step through the world of routers, switches, firewalls, and other technologies based on the author's extensive field experience. You'll find new content for MPLS, IPv6, VoIP, and wireless in this completely revised second edition, along with examples of Cisco Nexus 5000 and 7000 switches throughout.Topics include:An in-depth view of routers and routingSwitching, using Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switches as examplesSOHO VoIP and SOHO wireless access point design and configurationIntroduction to IPv6 with configuration examplesTelecom technologies in the data-networking world, including T1, DS3, frame relay, and MPLSSecurity, firewall theory, and configuration, as well as ACL and authenticationQuality of Service (QoS), with an emphasis on low-latency queuing (LLQ)IP address allocation, Network Time Protocol (NTP), and device failures
JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for Web Programmers
by Danny GoodmanIn today's Web 2.0 world, JavaScript and Dynamic HTML are at the center of the hot new approach to designing highly interactive pages on the client side. With this environment in mind, the new edition of this book offers bite-sized solutions to very specific scripting problems that web developers commonly face. Each recipe includes a focused piece of code that you can insert right into your application.Why is JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook so popular? After reading thousands of forum threads over the years, author and scripting pioneer Danny Goodman has compiled a list of problems that frequently vex scripters of various experience levels. For every problem he addresses, Goodman not only offers code, but a discussion of how and why the solution works. Recipes range from simple tasks, such as manipulating strings and validating dates in JavaScript, to entire libraries that demonstrate complex tasks, such as cross-browser positioning of HTML elements, sorting tables, and implementing Ajax features on the client.Ideal for novices as well as experienced scripters, this book contains more than 150 recipes for:Working with interactive forms and style sheetsPresenting user-friendly page navigationCreating dynamic content via Document Object Model scriptingProducing visual effects for stationary contentPositioning HTML elementsWorking with XML data in the browserRecipes in this Cookbook are compatible with the latest W3C standards and browsers, including Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2, Safari, and Opera 9. Several new recipes provide client-side Ajax solutions, and many recipes from the previous edition have been revised to help you build extensible user interfaces for Web 2.0 applications. If you want to write your own scripts and understand how they work, rather than rely on a commercial web development framework, the JavaScript & DHTML Cookbook is a must.
Bandit Algorithms for Website Optimization: Developing, Deploying, and Debugging
by John Myles WhiteWhen looking for ways to improve your website, how do you decide which changes to make? And which changes to keep? This concise book shows you how to use Multiarmed Bandit algorithms to measure the real-world value of any modifications you make to your site. Author John Myles White shows you how this powerful class of algorithms can help you boost website traffic, convert visitors to customers, and increase many other measures of success.This is the first developer-focused book on bandit algorithms, which were previously described only in research papers. You’ll quickly learn the benefits of several simple algorithms—including the epsilon-Greedy, Softmax, and Upper Confidence Bound (UCB) algorithms—by working through code examples written in Python, which you can easily adapt for deployment on your own website.Learn the basics of A/B testing—and recognize when it’s better to use bandit algorithmsDevelop a unit testing framework for debugging bandit algorithmsGet additional code examples written in Julia, Ruby, and JavaScript with supplemental online materials
PHP: Delivering the Best of PHP
by Peter MacIntyreGet past all the hype about PHP and dig into the real power of this language. This book explores the most useful features of PHP and how they can speed up the web development process, and explains why the most commonly used PHP elements are often misused or misapplied. You'll learn which parts add strength to object-oriented programming, and how to use certain features to integrate your application with databases.Written by a longtime member of the PHP community, PHP: The Good Parts is ideal for new PHP programmers, as well as web developers switching from other languages.Become familiar with PHP's basic syntax, variables, and datatypesLearn how to integrate the language with web pagesUnderstand how to use strings, arrays, and PHP's built-in functionsDiscover the advantages of using PHP as an object-oriented languageExplore how PHP interacts with databases, such as SQLite and MySQLLearn input- and output-handling best practices to prevent security breaches
Simpson and the Donkey Anniversary Edition: The Making of a Legend
by Peter CochraneThe simple tale of Simpson and his donkey is the pre-eminent legend of heroism. It is the story of a humble water-carrier, a rescuer of wounded men, a tale of compassion, stoic persistence, with a tragic end. His tale is an integral part of the Anzac story. Across time, a simple tale can acquire a complicated history. This is what happened to the man with the donkey and is the subject of this book, Simpson's 'afterlife', the legend.
Digging People Up For Coal: A History of Yallourn
by Fletcher, Meredith... a dramatic account of Australia's most astounding urban story. Professor Tom Stannage This book is about the birth, life and loss of a community. Yallourn was designed in the 1920s as a garden town laid out on 'hygienic and aesthetic principles'. It became a thriving and close-knit community, home to several generations of State Electricity Commission workers and their families. By the 1960s, however, the town was surplus to requirements. It had become an 'area' to be 'cleared'. The Save Yallourn Campaign was long and bitterly fought, but the residents' efforts were in vain. Meredith Fletcher brings to life a community that still exists vividly in memory and imagination. She looks at the intense grief people feel for lost places, and at the creativity that grief can release. Digging People Up for Coal is the first book to examine the process of deconstruction, demolition and detachment of an Australian town. In resurrecting Yallourn from the depths of the open cut, it both celebrates and mourns a lost community.
One Continuous Picnic: A gastronomic history of Australia
by Symons, Michael2007 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first publication of One Continuous Picnic, a frequently acclaimed Australian classic on the history of eating in Australia. The text remains gratifyingly accurate and prescient, and has helped to shape subsequent developments in food in Australia. Until recently, historians have tended to overlook eating, and yet, through meat pies and lamingtons, Symons tells the history of Australia gastronomically. He challenges myths such as that Australia is 'too young' for a national cuisine, and that immigration caused the restaurant boom. Symons shows us that Australia is unique because its citizens have not developed a true contact with the land, have not had a peasant society. Australians have enjoyed plenty to eat, but food had to be portable: witness the weekly rations of mutton, flour, tea and sugar that made early settlers a mobile army clearing a whole continent; and the tins of jam, condensed milk, camp pie and bottles of tomato sauce and beer that turned its citizens into early suburbanites. By the time of screw-top riesling, takeaway chicken and frozen puff pastry, Australians were hypnotised consumers, on one continuous picnic. But good food has never come from factory farms, process lines, supermarkets and fast-food chains. Only when we enjoy a diet of fresh, local produce treated with proper respect, when we learn from peasants, might we at last have found a national cuisine and cultivated a continent.
Long Haul: Lessons from public life
by John BrumbyThe Long Haul distils a series of practical lessons on leadership and public life from John Brumby's thirty years in politics. It offers insights into the challenges and opportunities Australia currently faces and argues for real political reform, a different future for our federation and strong leadership in a world in transition.
Whitlam's Children: Labor and the Greens in Australia
by Shaun CroweOver the past three decades, progressive politics in Australia has undergone a gradual but unmistakable transformation. Where the Australian Labor Party once enjoyed dominance over the political left it now shares space with the Greens; at times depending on minor-party support to form government, and even more often to pass contentious legislation. Based on over forty interviews with politicians and party figures, Whitlam's Children is the first study of this increasingly important relationship in Australian politics. Did previous attempts at cooperation, particularly minority government under Julia Gillard, deliver successful government, and how do each judge the experiment in hindsight? Why are certain policy areas, like refugee settlement and environmental policy, so stubborn and divisive? And will we ever see a more lasting coalition on the Australian left, to mirror the established arrangement on the Australian right? While revealing a variety of perspectives, even within parties, the research uncovers a productive, if often hostile relationship; united by a series of shared values, but divided by different approaches to politics, elections and parliament. Featuring a preface by Geoff Gallop
Furious Hunger
by Bruce GrantAt the end of the twentieth century, the United States—the most powerful nation on earth—is driven by quasi-religious patriotism and by conspicuous materialism. At once restless and violent, creative and democratic, it is also, at another level, deeply unsure of itself. Bruce Grant's engrossing text reveals the core of America's greatness—and its vulnerability. Americans believe that their country is blessed and exceptional—blessed by God and nature, exceptional because of their management of the twin icons, democracy and capitalism. But have Americans separated themselves too much from the rest of the world? Can they meet the challenge of the 21st century, which is to provide true global leadership? A Furious Hunger is a penetrating exploration of America's way of life, its people, its history, its rhetoric, its government and politics, and its arts and popular culture. The author's 'modest intention' is to try to understand the United States better, not as the leader of the Western world, but as itself. Bruce Grant writes critically and sympathetically of the country and the people he has visited and observed for over thirty years. This original and challenging book will interest readers who welcome America's influence on our lives as well as those who resist it. All we know is that having everything we yet hold nothing, that feeling the wild song of this great earth upwelling in us we have no word to give it utterance. All we know is that here the passionate enigma of our lives is so bitterly expressed, the furious hunger that so haunts and hurts Americans so desperately felt—that being rich, we are all yet poor, and having an incalculable wealth we have found no way of spending it, that feeling illimitable power we have yet found no way of using it.—Thomas Wolfe
Rolf Boldrewood: A Life
by De Serville, PaulRolf Boldrewood (T. A. Browne) was one of the best-known novelists of nineteenth-century Australia. Robbery Under Arms brought him a national and an international audience. It became a household name, and has remained in print since 1889. Boldrewood was the first novelist to create specifically Australian characters. He was one of the chief spokesmen for 'old' (pre-goldrush) Australia; for pastoral Australia; and above all, for conservative Australia. This biography attempts to uncover Boldrewood's ideas, and to reveal the life of the man who was Boldrewood's alter ego, Thomas Alexander Browne (1826-1915). Browne had three careers: as a pioneer squatter; civil servant and writer and epitomised the pioneer colonist who experiences sudden reversals of fortune. Paul de Serville's research, shows that he was not merely the sunny, hopeful and genial man portrayed in earlier studies, but rather an impulsive, extravagant, at times thoughtless optimist, whose Micawber-like temperament enabled him to escape being crushed by his ill-judged decisions. Browne used his own life and experiences as raw material for his novels, but his career was in many ways far grimmer than most of his fiction.
Dolly's Creek: An Archaeology of a Victorian Goldfields Community
by Susan LawrenceBetween 1990 and 1992, a group of archaeologists mapped the remains of the settlement on the Moorabool and excavated four houses there. Like the miners, they were drawn to the site by the desire to dig for treasure. In Dolly's Creek, Susan Lawrence tells the story both of their archaeological research and of the community they uncovered. Dolly's Creek uses landscape, material objects and documents to gain an understanding of the nature of the diggings community and of the ways in which it changed as the gold rush passed. Susan Lawrence's imaginative, exploratory approach invites us to engage in the clue-finding, jigsaw-like quality of the archaeological hunt. This is a beautifully written book—historical ethnography at its best.
For the Common Good: Reflections on Australia's Future
by Bill ShortenIn For the Common Good, Bill Shorten reflects on the values and beliefs that led him to devote himself to the labour movement and stand for the nation's highest office. He looks back on the emphasis on education and social justice in his childhood in suburban Melbourne, and his many years spent empowering tens of thousands of Australians in workplaces across our continent.Shorten examines the rapid pace of change in our modern world and offers a way forward that enables all Australians to adapt, seize new opportunities and preserve the Australian way—a prosperous society unshakeably committed to fairness. He argues that the key to unlocking a new century of national progress is in building a renewed common good between workers, businesses, governments and the community, from our cities to the regions.In this thoughtful narrative, Bill Shorten provides a unique insight into how a Labor government will shape Australia's future for the better, for all Australians.
Ancient Maritime Loan Contracts (Law And Society In The Ancient World)
by Peter CandyAncient Maritime Loan Contracts studies the first millennium of the standard form contracts at the heart of ancient long-distance trade, from the fifth century BCE to Justinian. Maritime loan contracts recorded the terms of agreement on which a creditor lent a sum of money to a merchant or carrier to finance the purchase of a cargo for a trading expedition overseas. They were the lifeblood of the long-distance trade in bulk commodities that flourished in the Mediterranean and Black Seas and were also among the first private agreements to be fully committed to writing. From at least the fifth century BCE, these contracts were highly standardized in their terms, containing boilerplate clauses in a tried-and-tested construction. Maritime loan contracts continued to be used to finance maritime trade until the late Middle Ages, when they were only finally superseded by the contract of marine insurance. Combining a wide variety of papyrological, epigraphic, and legal evidence, Peter Candy’s framework illustrates the significance of these contracts in both their economic and legal context. By using an interdisciplinary approach, Ancient Maritime Loan Contracts addresses important questions about how maritime trade was financed in the context of the ancient economy; the response of individual legal cultures to maritime loan contracts; and the relationship between international commercial practice and legal development in the ancient world.
Gowanus: Brooklyn’s Curious Canal
by null Joseph AlexiouThe surprising history of the Gowanus Canal and its role in the building of BrooklynFor more than 150 years, Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal has been called a cesspool, an industrial dumping ground, and a blemish on the face of the populous borough—as well as one of the most important waterways in the history of New York harbor. Yet its true origins, man-made character, and importance to the city have been largely forgotten. Now, New York writer and guide Joseph Alexiou explores how the Gowanus creek—a naturally-occurring tidal estuary that served as a conduit for transport and industry during the colonial era—came to play an outsized role in the story of America’s greatest city. From the earliest Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, to nearby Revolutionary War skirmishes, or the opulence of the Gilded Age mansions that sprung up in its wake, historical changes to the Canal and the neighborhood that surround it have functioned as a microcosm of the story of Brooklyn’s rapid nineteenth-century growth. Highlighting the biographies of nineteenth-century real estate moguls like Daniel Richards and Edwin C. Litchfield, Alexiou recalls the forgotten movers and shakers that laid the foundation of modern-day Brooklyn. As he details, the pollution, crime, and industry associated with the Gowanus stretch back far earlier than the twentieth century, and helped define the culture and unique character of this celebrated borough. The story of the Gowanus, like Brooklyn itself, is a tale of ambition and neglect, bursts of creative energy, and an inimitable character that has captured the imaginations of city-lovers around the world.
Control: A History of Behavioral Psychology (Qualitative Studies in Psychology #14)
by null John A. MillsBehaviorism has been the dominant force in the creation of modern American psychology. However, the unquestioned and unquestioning nature of this dominance has obfuscated the complexity of behaviorism. Control serves as an antidote to this historical myopia, providing the most comprehensive history of behaviorism yet written. Mills successfully balances the investigation of individual theorists and their contributions with analysis of the structures of assumption which underlie all behaviorist psychology, and with behaviorism's role as both creator and creature of larger American intellectual patterns, practices, and values. Furthermore, Mills provides a cogent critique of behaviorists' narrow attitudes toward human motivation, exploring how their positivism cripples their ability to account for the unobservable, inner factors that control behavior. Control's blend of history and criticism advances our understanding not only of behaviorism, but also the development of social science and positivism in twentieth-century America.
Employment of English: Theory, Jobs, and the Future of Literary Studies (Cultural Front)
by null Michael BérubéWhat sorts of cultural criticism are teachers and scholars to produce, and how can that criticism be "employed" in the culture at large? In recent years, debates about the role and direction of English departments have mushroomed into a broader controversy over the public legitimacy of literary criticism. At first glance this might seem odd: few taxpayers and legislators care whether the nation's English professors are doing justice to the project of identifying the beautiful and the sublime. But in the context of the legitimation crisis in American higher education, the image of English departments has in fact played a major role in determining public attitudes toward colleges and college faculty. Similarly, the changing economic conditions of universities have prompted many English professors to rethink their relations to their "clients," asking how literary study can serve the American public. What sorts of cultural criticism are teachers and scholars to produce, and how can that criticism be "employed" in the culture at large? In The Employment of English, Michael Bérubé, one of our most eloquent and gifted critics, examines the cultural legitimacy of literary study. In witty, engaging prose, Bérubé asserts that we must situate these questions in a context in which nearly half of all college professors are part-time labor and in which English departments are torn between their traditional mission of defining movements of literary history and protocols of textual interpretation, and their newer tasks of interrogating wider systems of signification under rubrics like "gender," "hegemony," "rhetoric," "textuality" (including film and video), and "culture." Are these new roles a betrayal of the field's founding principles, in effect a short-sighted sell-out of the discipline? Do they represent little more that an attempt to shore up the status of--and student enrollments in--English? Or are they legitimate objects of literary study, in need of public support? Simultaneously investigating the economic and the intellectual ramifications of current debates, The Employment of English provides the clearest and most condensed account of this controversy to date.