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Lincoln and California: The President, the War, and the Golden State
by Brian McGintyThe ties that bound Abraham Lincoln to California, and California to Lincoln, have long been overlooked by historians. Although the great Civil War president has been the subject of thousands of books, his important relationship with the Western state, both before and during the war—the part it played in bringing on the great conflict and the help it gave him in winning it—have been little described and imperfectly understood. In Lincoln and California Brian McGinty explains the relationship between the president and the Golden State, describing important events that took place in California and elsewhere during Lincoln’s lifetime. He includes the histories of Lincoln’s close friends and personal acquaintances who made history as they went to California, lived there, and helped to keep it part of the imperiled Union. McGinty demonstrates that California was in large part responsible for beginning the Civil War, as the principal purpose of its conquest in the Mexican War was to acquire land into which the Southern states could extend their cotton-growing and slaveholding empire. <p><p>The decision of California’s first voters to exclude slavery from the state but to enact virulently racist legislation encouraged Southerners’ hope that, if they established a separate republic, it would become an independent slave nation with the power to extend its territory to the Pacific coast of North America and into the Caribbean and Latin America. Lincoln’s opposition to their plans unleashed the Civil War. <p><p>As the struggle played out, however, the hopes of the proslavery Confederates were ultimately defeated because California played a vital role in helping Lincoln save the Union. Lincoln and California shines new light on an important state, a pivotal president, and a turning point in American history.
Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man
by Brian McgroryAward-winning journalist Brian McGrory goes head to beak in a battle royale with another male for a top-spot in his home, vying for dominance with the family's pet rooster. Brian McGrory's life changed drastically after the death of his beloved dog, Harry: he fell in love with Pam, Harry's veterinarian. Though Brian's only responsibility used to be his adored Harry, Pam came with accessories that could not have been more exotic to the city-loving bachelor: a home in suburbia, two young daughters, two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, and a portly, snow white, red-crowned-and-wattled step-rooster named Buddy. While Buddy loves the women of the house, he takes Brian's presence as an affront, doing everything he can to drive out his rival. Initially resistant to elements of his new life and to the loud, aggressive rooster (who stares menacingly, pecks threateningly, and is constantly poised to attack), Brian eventually sees that Buddy shares the kind of extraordinary relationship with Pam and her two girls that he wants for himself. The rooster is what Brian needs to be - strong and content, devoted to what he has rather than what might be missing. As he learns how to live by living with animals, Buddy, Brian's nemesis, becomes Buddy, Brian's inspiration, in this inherently human story of love, acceptance, and change. In the tradition of bestsellers like Marley and Me, Dewey, and The Tender Bar comes a heartwarming and wise tale of finding love in life's second chapter - and how it means all the more when you have to fight for it.
Pierre Berton: A Biography
by Brian MckillopThe first ever biography of one of Canada's best-known and most colourful personalities by an award-winning author.From his northern childhood on, it was clear that Pierre Berton (1920--2004) was different from his peers. Over the course of his eighty-four years, he would become the most famous Canadian media figure of his time, in newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and books -- sometimes all at once. Berton dominated bookstore shelves for almost half a century, winning Governor General's Awards for Klondike and The Last Spike, among many others, along with a dozen honorary degrees.Throughout it all, Berton was larger than life: full of verve and ideas, he approached everything he did with passion, humour, and an insatiable curiosity. He loved controversy and being the centre of attention, and provoked national debate on subjects as wide-ranging as religion and marijuana use. A major voice of Canadian nationalism at the dawn of globalization, he made Canadians take interest in their own history and become proud of it. But he had his critics too, and some considered him egocentric and mean-spirited.Now, with the same meticulous research and storytelling skill that earned him wide critical acclaim for The Spinster and the Prophet, Brian McKillop traces Pierre Berton's remarkable life, with special emphasis on his early days and his rise to prominence. The result is a comprehensive, vivid portrait of the life and work of one of our most celebrated national figures.From the Hardcover edition.
Black Arrow Blue Diamond: Leading the Legendary RAF Flying Display Teams
by Brian MercerA memoir of flying Hawker Hunters for the famed aerobatic display teams, and other adventures in aviation. Brian Mercer is one of the most outstanding postwar RAF fighter pilots and in this eminently readable autobiography he recaptures life as it was in the days of transition from flying piston-powered aircraft to jet power. His flying and leadership skills resulted in a long association with what was then considered the finest aerobatic display team in the world—Treble One Squadron&’s Black Arrows. Flying the elegant black Hawker Hunters in large formation displays was no easy task, and Mercer explains in great detail how their legendary precision was achieved, revealing many exciting incidents en route. When Treble One&’s Hunters were replaced with the supersonic Lightning fighter, it soon became clear that these superfast aircraft were not suited to close-up display flying. Brian was then asked to form a new RAF display team and continue with Hunters. This was to become the No. 92 Squadron&’s Blue Diamonds, who inherited the star role. Faced with the fact that future promotion within the RAF would move him from cockpit to desk, Brian elected to join the then-fledgling airline Cathay Pacific, and his story also includes many lively accounts of incidents that occurred while he was flying from the company&’s home base at Kai Tak in Hong Kong.
Fortune and Glory Volume 1
by Brian Michael BendisBrian Michael Bendis, the New York Times bestselling, Peabody and multi-Eisner award-winning co-creator of Miles Morales, Naomi, Jessica Jones, and POWERS tells a comedic life lesson about the horrors of Hollywood.Before his acclaimed relaunches of Superman, Action Comics, and Young Justice...before his triumphant successes with Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man, Invincible Iron Man, and Jessica Jones...before his groundbreaking original series Powers, Scarlet, Cover, and Pearl......Brian Michael Bendis was a hungry young cartoonist about to take his first step into the shark-filled swimming pool that is the American motion picture industry. The harsh lessons that he learned along the way—and the unforgettable people that he met—are set down for the ages in Fortune and Glory, his hilarious autobiographical account of Hollywood development hell.Written and illustrated by Bendis and colored by Matthew Wilson, Fortune and Glory invites readers to gaze in wonder at the dizzying varieties of stupidity displayed by studio executives, and to share in the enthralling mood swings and ego nosedives of a small-time comic book creator as he rides the emotional roller coaster of freelance film production.This comprehensive trade paperback edition includes the complete story from the original three-issue miniseries and features an introduction from comics and animation legend Paul Dini as well as a wealth of promotional art and interviews straight from Bendis' archives. Collects Fortune and Glory #1–#3.
Conversations with Power: What Great Presidents and Prime Ministers Can Teach Us about Leadership
by Brian Michael TillFresh out of college, and frustrated with own generation's political apathy, Brian Till set out to interview the former world leaders he most admired. To his surprise, they were eager to talk, and he soon found himself discussing everything from energy to terrorism to nuclear disarmament with the greatest leaders of the last twenty-five years. Here, he distills what they learned in office, their predictions for the future, and their advice for the leaders of tomorrow. Including interviews with:*Bill Clinton*Gro Bruntland*Jimmy Carter*Fernando Henrique Cardoso*Ehud Barak*Vaclav Havel*Mikhail Gorbachev*Pervez Musharraf*F.W. de Klerk*Ricardo Lagos*Helmut Schmidt*Goh Chok Tong*Paul Keating
Francis Of Assisi And His "canticle Of Brother Sun" Reassessed
by Brian MoloneyBringing the skills of a literary historian to the subject, Brian Moloney considers the genesis of Saint Francis of Assisi's Canticle of Brother Sun to show how it works as a carefully composed work of art. The study examines the saint's life and times, the structure of the poem, the features of its style, and the range of its possible meanings.
When a Loved One Falls Ill: How to Be an Effective Patient Advocate
by Brian Monaghan Gerri MonaghanThe much-needed book for anyone with a loved one facing a serious illness. It is the book that’s a bible for how to make the potentially life-or-death decisions that every medical advocate, and every patient, must grapple with—especially now, as health care becomes ever more complicated. It is the practical blueprint for how to be a successful medical advocate. When Gerri Monaghan’s husband, Brian, then a fifty-nine-year-old lawyer at the top of his game, got the news that all of us dread—a diagnosis of brain tumors caused by Stage IV melanoma with a prognosis of three to six months to live—she knew that this was a challenge the two of them would fight together. Brian brought his enormous courage, attitude, and reserves of humor, and Gerri, with dogged determination, stood up again and again for what they needed—tirelessly researching options, reaching out to friends, family, and anyone who could help, resisting the status quo, and always thinking in terms of “we.”Together they tell their story, back and forth, punctuated throughout by Gerri’s top 50 tips for how to be an advocate: #1 Trust your intuition. #6 Create a battle plan. #15 Get copies of records. #26 Make doctors speak in a language that you understand. #33 Don’t schedule surgery during the holidays. #49 Remember, this is not a dress rehearsal.
A Field Marshal in the Family
by Brian MontgomeryField Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein has attracted the attention of countless historians over the last 70 years but, despite this coverage, views of his character remain controversial and contradictory. His younger brother Brian, himself a successful soldier, enters the fray with this charming and revealing book examining the background of this legendary military commander. He provides a fascinating account of the influences of Montys family genes together with a wealth of unknown details about his career. His grandfather, Sir Robert Montgomery, played a key role in crushing the Indian Mutiny and his adventures have intriguing parallels with those of Montys two generations later. Dean Farrar, his maternal grandfather, was a powerful Victorian educational and religious figure (Headmaster of Marlborough College and Dean of Canterbury) and author of the iconic Eric, or Little by Little.The author examines in the most entertaining and frank manner Montys idiosyncratic character traits; his opposition to tradition, his Nelsonian approach to rules and regulations, his ruthlessness and determination and his unfashionable views on the absolute necessity for self publicity and the most intensive training to get the maximum from his subordinates, down to the most junior levels.
John F. Kerry: The Boston Globe Biography
by Nina J. Easton Michael Kranish Brian MooneyJohn F. Kerry: The Boston Globe Biography tells the ambitious story of the former Presidential candidate and Senator, and current Secretary of State. Based on a highly regarded series published in The Boston Globe and augmented by years of additional reporting, it explores John Kerry's background, his service in the military, his early legal and political career, and his legislative record. Offering an incisive, frank look at the man who has spent decades in the highest levels of government, this biography is important reading for anyone interested in the life of the man now poised to be the face of his country overseas.
Beware of the Dog: Rugby's Hard Man Reveals All
by Brian MooreBrian Moore, or 'Pitbull' as he came to be known during nearly a decade at the heart of the England rugby team's pack, established himself as one of the game's original hard men at a time when rugby was still an amateur sport. Since his retirement, he has earned a reputation as an equally uncompromising commentator, never afraid to tell it as he sees it and lash out at the money men and professionals that have made rugby into such a different beast. Yet, for all his bullishness on and off the pitch, there also appears a more unconventional, complicated side to the man. A solicitor by trade, Moore's love of fine wine, career experience as a manicurist and preference for reading Shakespeare in the dressing room before games, mark him out as anything but the stereotypical rugby player and in Beware of the Dog Moore lays open with astounding frankness the shocking events, both personal and professional, that have gone towards shaping him over the years. Presenting an unparalleled insight into the mind of one of British rugby's greatest players and characters, Beware of the Dog is a uniquely engaging and upfront sporting memoir.
Beware of the Dog: Rugby's Hard Man Reveals All
by Brian MooreWINNER OF THE 2010 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE. Brian Moore, or 'Pitbull' as he came to be known during nearly a decade at the heart of the England rugby team's pack, established himself as one of the game's original hard men at a time when rugby was still an amateur sport. Since his retirement, he has earned a reputation as an equally uncompromising commentator, never afraid to tell it as he sees it and lash out at the money men and professionals that have made rugby into such a different beast. Yet, for all his bullishness on and off the pitch, there also appears a more unconventional, complicated side to the man. A solicitor by trade, Moore's love of fine wine, career experience as a manicurist and preference for reading Shakespeare in the dressing room before games, mark him out as anything but the stereotypical rugby player and in Beware of the Dog Moore lays open with astounding frankness the shocking events, both personal and professional, that have gone towards shaping him over the years. Presenting an unparalleled insight into the mind of one of British rugby's greatest players and characters, Beware of the Dog is a uniquely engaging and upfront sporting memoir, and a deserved winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize.
Vignettes & Vino: Dinner Table Stories from the Trump White House with Recipes & Cocktail Pairings
by Brian Morgenstern Teresa MorgensternThese are true, human, lighthearted, and significant moments from the most high-stakes environment on Earth, the White House—written by two people who found love at the intersection of politics, a global pandemic, civil strife, an unexpected Supreme Court confirmation, and a heated presidential election—presented with comfort food recipes and cocktail pairings.This book is full of aspirational, surprising, funny, and interesting stories from insiders who were there at the highest levels of government during the election and pandemic of 2020. The stories are combined with themed, practical recipes and cocktails for lovers of American history. Vignettes & Vino is a one-stop handbook for your next dinner party!
Tasha: A Son's Memoir
by Brian MortonIn the spirit of Fierce Attachments, Bettyville, and The End of Your Life Book Club, acclaimed novelist Brian Morton delivers a moving, darkly funny memoir of his mother&’s vibrant life and the many ways in which their tight, tumultuous relationship was refashioned in her twilight years.Tasha Morton is a force of nature: a brilliant educator who&’s left her mark on generations of students—and also a whirlwind of a mother, intrusive, chaotic, oppressively devoted, and irrepressible. For decades, her son Brian has kept her at a self-protective distance, but when her health begins to fail, he knows it&’s time to assume responsibility for her care. Even so, he&’s not prepared for what awaits him, as her refusal to accept her own fragility leads to a series of epic outbursts and altercations that are sometimes frightening, sometimes wildly comic, and sometimes both. Clear-eyed, loving, and brimming with dark humor, Tasha is an exploration of what sons learn from their mothers, a stark look at the impossible task of caring for an elderly parent in a country whose unofficial motto is &“you&’re on your own,&” and a meditation on the treacherous business at the heart of every family—the business of trying to honor ourselves without forsaking our parents, and our parents without forsaking ourselves. Above all, Tasha is a vivid and surprising portrait of an unforgettable woman.
Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges: A Sapper's Second World War Diary
by Brian MossSoldiers’ first-hand accounts of Second World War active service invariably make inspiring and exciting reading but Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges is exceptional for several reasons. First, Brian Moss’s role as a bomb disposal specialist was especially hazardous. Secondly, he was in the thick of the action from the start, dealing with unexploded ordnance during the London blitz. He was then deployed as a frontline sapper to North Africa and onto Sicily before landing on Gold Beach on D-Day. Despite many close calls he was relatively unscathed until taken out by a butterfly bomb at Nijmegen. Fortunately, despite serious injury he lived, quite literally, to tell the tale but his war was over. While the author’s graphic account compares favorably with the very best wartime memoirs, it also has a unique element, namely examples of his outstanding artistic skill. It is truly remarkable that he not only managed to produce so many fine works under combat conditions and that he was able to draw such accurate maps from memory. His sketches and paintings bring a special dimension to this story. What a privilege it is to feast on the words and images created by this exceptionally brave and talented man.
Forgotten Soldiers
by Brian MoynahanForgotten Soldiers is an enthralling work of military history that shows how the courage, intelligence or simple good fortune of the individual can exert a decisive influence on the outcome of a battle or campaign. It tells the stories of fifteen unsung heroes, none of a rank higher than major, whose deeds changed the course of important battles and - arguably - the course of history. These vivid and gripping accounts - largely drawn from the Second World War, but with tales too from other conflicts - have each been selected to illustrate one of the dictums of the great Prussian theorist of war, Carl von Clausewitz, about the importance of having the right man in the right place at the right time. From the Roman standard bearer who plunged into the waves off Deal in 55 BC, saving Julius Caesar's military honour and political career, to the young Israeli tank lieutenant who almost single-handedly stalled the advancing Syrian armour in 1973, these are above all tales of courage. But it is not just courage that wins wars, as these stories demonstrate: such elements as surprise, determination, good intelligence, chance, insight, inventiveness and clear thinking all play their parts in eventual victory. And it may only take one man, often of lowly rank, his name largely forgotten, to embody such qualities for the effect to be felt around the world.
God's Bestseller: William Tyndale, Thomas More, and the Writing of the English Bible—A Story of Martyrdom and Betrayal
by Brian MoynahanThe English Bible--the most familiar book in our language--is the product of a man who was exiled, vilified, betrayed, then strangled, then burnt.William Tyndale left England in 1524 to translate the word of God into English. This was heresy, punishable by death. Sir Thomas More, hailed as a saint and a man for all seasons, considered it his divine duty to pursue Tyndale. He did so with an obsessive ferocity that, in all probability, led to Tyndale's capture and death.The words that Tyndale wrote during his desperate exile have a beauty and familiarity that still resonate across the English-speaking world: "Death, where is thy sting?...eat, drink, and be merry...our Father which art in heaven."His New Testament, which he translated, edited, financed, printed, and smuggled into England in 1526, passed with few changes into subsequent versions of the Bible. So did those books of the Old Testament that he lived to finish.Brian Moynahan's lucid and meticulously researched biography illuminates Tyndale's life, from his childhood in England, to his death outside Brussels. It chronicles the birth pangs of the Reformation, the wrath of Henry VIII, the sympathy of Anne Boleyn, and the consuming malice of Thomas More. Above all, it reveals the English Bible as a labor of love, for which a man in an age more spiritual than our own willingly gave his life.
Jungle Soldier: The true story of Freddy Spencer Chapman
by Brian MoynahanArctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured and then beheaded. Cut off from friendly forces, his only shelter the deep jungle, Chapman held out for three years and five months. Jungle Soldier recounts the thrilling and unforgettable adventures of the north country orphan who survived against all odds to become a legend of guerrilla warfare.
Leningrad: Siege and Symphony
by Brian MoynahanShostakovich's Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 August, 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Pray God, there never will be again. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation. The assembled musicians - scrounged from frontline units and military bands, for only twenty of the orchestra's 100 players had survived - were so hungry, many feared they'd be too weak to play the score right through. In these, the darkest days of the Second World War, the music and the defiance it inspired provided a rare beacon of light for the watching world. Setting the composition of Shostakovich's most famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of the most tragic periods in history.
Leningrad: Siege and Symphony
by Brian MoynahanIn Leningrad: Siege and Symphony, Brian Moynahan sets the composition of Shostakovich's most famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it.Drawing on extensive primary research in archives as well as personal letters and diaries, he vividly tells the story of the cruelties heaped by the twin monsters of the 20th century, Stalin and Hitler, on a city of exquisite beauty, and of its no less remarkable survival.Weaving Shostakovich's own story and that of many others into the context of the maelstrom of Stalin's purges and the Nazis' brutal invasion of Russia, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of the most tragic periods of the twentieth century. (P)2013 WF Howes Ltd
Rasputin
by Brian MoynahanGrigory Efimovich Rasputin came to St. Petersburg from his Siberian cabin in 1903 like a projectile from the medieval past, tattered, black-clad, muttering. By the time he was murdered thirteen years later, the peasant was the "beloved" Friend of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alexandra and the sponsor of the most powerful officials in Russia. He had become, a society lady wrote, "a dusk enveloping all our world, eclipsing the sun. How could so pitiful a wretch throw so vast a shadow? It was inexplicable, maddening, almost incredible. "Rasputin's name has become synonymous with evil, but his legend has obscured the facts of his life. In this evocative biography, Brian Moynahan presents us with a flesh-and-blood Rasputin, more fascinating than the myth--a man in whom debauchery coexisted beside a real (if erratic) spiritual sense, a man whose coarseness hid a savvy awareness of human psychology. Drawing on confidential police reports, cabinet meeting memos, and other documents, some available only since the fall of the Soviet Union, Moynahan sheds new light on Rasputin's life and disputes some of the widely held details of his death. The young Rasputin was a drinker, thief, and womanizer. He claimed to have religious visions and became a wandering holy man, preaching that exposure to sin could drive out sin. He stormed the fashionable salons of St. Petersburg, and in 1905 he met Nicholas and Alexandra, who, increasingly despised by the sophisticated, found in Rasputin reassurance that the "real Russia, the simple and pious peasantry, loved them. Rasputin's mysterious ability to stop the bleeding attacks of their hemophiliac only son, Alexis, sealed the approval of the domineering Alexandra. With royal patronage, Rasputin became increasingly reckless, partying with prostitutes, peddling influence, plotting the disgrace of those who crossed him. Ever contradictory, he was also a devoted family man, a defender of the poor, and a figure of immense charisma. As Germany battered Russia during World War I, as Nicholas's ineptitude as a leader became ever more rampant and the masses went hungry, Rasputin seemed to monarchists to be the cause, and not just the symptom, of corrupt government. A group of conspirators gathered--among them a grand duke and a scion of the richest family in Russia--and one of the most famous murders in history was planned. Set against the vivid backdrop of prerevolutionary Russia, Rasputin is a portrait of an age as well as of a man.NOTE: This edition does not include photographs.
Memoirs
by Brian MulroneyPolitics was always Brian Mulroney's real love. As an undergraduate in Nova Scotia he amazed his friends by getting Prime Minister Diefenbaker on the phone, and he rose fast in the Tory ranks in Quebec as a young Montreal lawyer. He tried for the leadership of the party in 1976, losing to Joe Clark, then returned to win a rematch in 1983. The next year, he ran the most successful election campaign in Canadian history, winning 211 seats, and taking office in September 1984. His first term in office was a stormy one, marked by the launch of the Meech Lake Accord and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. In 1988, however, he was re-elected after a rollercoaster campaign, and his second term in office was just as controversial, featuring the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords -- still a source of bitter regret for him, as opportunities missed.This book falls into two main sections: first, his rise out of a working-class family in Baie-Comeau. Second, his immersion into the world of Ottawa politics, in opposition and then in power. The years in power are dealt with in fascinating detail, and we receive his candid accounts of backstage dealings with Trudeau, Clark, and other Canadian leaders and on the international scene with Reagan, Thatcher, Mitterrand, Kohl, Gorbachev, Mandela, Clinton, and many more. This big book has a huge cast of major players.Brian Mulroney is determined to make this the best prime minister's memoirs this country has ever seen, and a full-time researcher has been helping him for three years. This account of his career is colourful and forthright, and a number of opponents will be sorry that they caught his attention.The manuscript is full of personal touches and reflects the fact that he wrote it by hand, reading it aloud for rhythm and impact. Studded with entries from his private journal, this book -- by a son, brother, husband, and father -- is deeply personal, and includes some surprisingly frank admissions.The book establishes the scale of his achievements, and reveals him as a man of great charm. Memoirs will allow that little-known Brian Mulroney to engage directly with the reader. This book is full of surprises, as we fall under the spell of a great storyteller.From the Hardcover edition.
81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness
by Brian MurphyShortly before Christmas in 1943, five Army aviators left Alaska’s Ladd Field on a test flight. Only one ever returned: Leon Crane, a city kid from Philadelphia with little more than a parachute on his back when he bailed from his B-24 Liberator before it crashed into the Arctic. Alone in subzero temperatures, Crane managed to stay alive in the dead of the Yukon winter for nearly twelve weeks and, amazingly, walked out of the ordeal intact. 81 Days Below Zero recounts, for the first time, the full story of Crane’s remarkable saga. In a drama of staggering resolve with moments of phenomenal luck, Crane learned to survive in the Yukon’s unforgiving landscape. His is a tale of the human capacity to endure extreme conditions and intense lonelinessand emerge stronger than before.
The Many Lives of Cy Endfield
by Brian NeveCy Endfield (1914-1995) was a filmmaker who was also fascinated by the worlds of close-up magic, science, and invention. After directing several distinctive low-budget films in Hollywood, he was blacklisted in 1951 and fled to Britain rather than "name names” before HUAC, the U. S. House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities Committee. The Pennsylvania-born Endfield made films that exhibit an outsider’s eye for his adopted country, including the working-class "trucking” drama Hell Drivers and the cult film Zulu--a war epic as politically nuanced as it is spectacular. Along the way he encountered Orson Welles, collaborated with pioneering animator Ray Harryhausen, published a book of his card magic, and co-invented an early word processor that anticipated today’s technology. The Many Lives of Cy Endfield is the first book on this fascinating figure. The fruit of years of archival research and personal interviews by Brian Neve, it documents Endfield’s many identities: among them second-generation immigrant, Jew, Communist, and exile. Neve paints detailed scenes not only of the political and personal dramas of the blacklist era, but also of the attempts by Hollywood directors in the postwar 1940s and early 1950s to address social and political controversies of the day. Out of these efforts came two crime melodramas (what would become known as film noir) on inequalities of class and race: The Underworld Story and The Sound of Fury (also known as Try and Get Me!). Neve reveals the complex production and reception histories of Endfield’s films, which the critic Jonathan Rosenbaum saw as reflective of "an uncommon intelligence so radically critical of the world we live in that it’s dangerous. ” The Many Lives of Cy Endfield is at once a revealing biography of an independent, protean figure, an insight into film industry struggles, and a sensitive and informed study of an underappreciated body of work.
Caleidoscopio: Facetas & flashbacks
by Brian NissenUn divertido y perspicaz retrato de lugares y de gente encontrados en el camino del renombrado artista Brian Nissen. En este libro, el renombrado artista Brian Nissen cuenta sus andanzas en el mundo del arte. Un divertido y perspicaz retrato de lugares y de gente encontrados en su camino #entre otros, deambulan personajes como Nicanor Parra, Rufino Tamayo, Octavio Paz, Leonora Carrington y Dore Ashton. Caleidoscopio también nos regala agudas observaciones del autor acerca del arte contemporáneo, así como ensayos sobre arte y ciencia y el arte erótico. Pintor y escultor, Nissen ha expuesto su obra en museos y galerías por el mundo. Ha trabajado en el cine, realizado coreografías y pintado murales. Entre sus libros publicados se encuentran Expuesto, Limulus, Voluptuario, Farándula y Brian Nissen, una extensa monografía de su obra. Sus códices -reinterpretaciones de los antiguos libros mexicas realizados en el contexto del arte actual-, se encuentran en las bibliotecas de las universidades de Princeton y Harvard, el Museo de Arte Moderno de Nueva York y el Museo de Brooklyn. La crítica ha dicho... «Estamos ante un libro conversado que se beneficia del espontáneo witticism británico y la picardía mexicana. El título no puede ser más certero: en su papel de memorialista, Nissen no brinda las dilatadas secuencias de una vida; se concentra en escenas fundamentales, los vidrios de colores de un paisaje en movimiento.» Juan Villoro «Brian Nissen nos ofrece una visión múltiple del deseo. La perfección de su forma es su imperfección. Su arte no aspira conscientemente a la permanencia si ésta es el signo de la permanencia. Por eso, permanecerá» Carlos Fuentes «Nissen es un inventor de formas sólidas que de pronto, arrebatadas por un soplo entusiasta, se echan a volar: súbito polen multicolor» Octavio Paz «Brian Nissen ha establecido diálogos con los movimientos modernistas de mayor envergadura y ha encontrado inspiración estilística en todo aquello que pudiera haber congeniado con esa visión inconfundiblemente suya» Arthur Danto «Nissen diversifica entonces su tarea para establecer una fuente antropológica de gente, lugares y costumbres tradicionales. Y así como los artistas prehispánicos se refieren a todo lo concerniente a su existencia -la cocina, la medicina, el comercio, los cultos, el tiempo del calendario y el tiempo cósmico-, Nissen inventa una existencia» Dore Ashton