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Listen to the Squawking Chicken
by Elaine LuiMost people think I'm exaggerating at first when I talk about the Chinese Squawking Chicken. But once they actually spend some time with her, they understand. They get it. Right away. She's Chinese, she squawks like a chicken, she is totally nuts, and I am totally dependent on her. When Elaine Lui was growing up, her mother told her, "Why do you need to prepare for the good things that happen? They're good. They won't hurt you. My job is to prepare you for the hard times, and teach you how to avoid them, whenever possible. " Neither traditionally Eastern nor conventionally Western, the Squawking Chicken raised her daughter drawing on Chinese fortune-telling, feng shui blackmail, good old-fashioned ghost stories, and shame and embarrassment in equal measure. And despite years of chafing against her mother's parenting style, Elaine came to recognize the hidden wisdom--and immeasurable value--in her rather unorthodox upbringing. Listen to the Squawking Chicken lays bare the playbook of unusual advice and warnings used to teach Elaine about hard work ("Miss Hong Kong is a whore"), humility ("I should have given birth to a piece of barbecue pork"), love and friendship, family loyalty ("Where's my money?"), style and deportment ("Don't be low classy"), finding one's own voice ("Walk like an elephant, squawk like a chicken") among other essentials. Along the way, Elaine poignantly reveals how her mother earned the nickname "Tsiahng Gai" or "squawking chicken" growing up in Hong Kong, enduring and rising from the ashes of her own hard times. Listen to the Squawking Chicken is a loving mother-daughter memoir that will have readers laughing out loud, gasping in shock, and reconsidering the honesty and guts it takes to be a parent.
Listen to the Echoes
by Sam Weller Black Francis Ray BradburyA definitive collection of interviews with one of America's most famous writers, covering his life, faith, friends, politics, and visions of the future.Ray Bradbury, the poetic and visionary author of such classics as Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man, is one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. From Mikhail Gorbachev to Alfred Hitchcock to David Bowie, Bradbury's sway on contemporary culture is towering. Acclaimed biographer and Bradbury scholar Sam Weller has spent more than a decade interviewing the author; the fascinating conversations that emerge cast a high-definition portrait of a creative genius and a futurist who longs for yesterday. Listen to the Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews is the definitive collection of interviews with an American icon.
Listen: How Pete Seeger Got America Singing
by Leda SchubertListen.There was nobody like Pete Seeger.Wherever he went, he got people singing. With his head thrown backand his Adam’s apple bouncing,picking his long-necked banjoor strumming his twelve-string guitar,Pete sang old songs,new songs,new words to old songs,and songs he made up.In this gorgeously written and illustrated tribute to legendary musician and activist Pete Seeger, author Leda Schubert highlights major musical events in Mr. Seeger's life as well important moments of his fight against social injustice. From singing sold-out concerts to courageously standing against the McCarthy-era finger-pointing, Pete Seeger's life is celebrated in this bold book for young readers with gorgeous illustrations by Raúl Colón.A Neal Porter BookThis title has Common Core connections.
Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion
by Shannon StockerA gorgeous and empowering picture book biography about Evelyn Glennie, a deaf woman, who became the first full-time solo percussionist in the world. <p><p>"No. You can't," people said. But Evelyn knew she could. She had found her own way to listen. From the moment Evelyn Glennie heard her first note, music held her heart. She played the piano by ear at age eight, and the clarinet by age ten. But soon, the nerves in her ears began to deteriorate, and Evelyn was told that, as a deaf girl, she could never be a musician. What sounds Evelyn couldn’t hear with her ears, though, she could feel resonate through her body as if she, herself, were a drum. And the music she created was extraordinary. Evelyn Glennie had learned how to listen in a new way. And soon, the world was listening too. <P><P><i>Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.</i>
Lista para la vida
by Alba CarrilloAlba Carrillo se abre como nunca y te invita a vivir sin miedo a nada, venga lo que venga y, sobre todo, siendo siempre fiel a ti misma. Un día vamos a morir, pero todos los demás no. VIVE. Alba Carrillo es una fuente inagotable de ingenio y buen humor, pero detrás de los focos las ha vivido de todos los colores. En Lista para la vida se abre como nunca y nos deja conocer a una mujer libre, con una fuerza única y una gran sensibilidad. Entre anécdotas desternillantes, poderosas lecciones de vida y verdades nunca dichas sobre su carrera profesional, Alba Carrillo nos contagia sus fervientes ganas de vivir sin miedo a nada, venga lo que venga y, sobre todo, siendo siempre fieles a nosotros mismos. Felicítate. Quiérete. Venérate.Tú eres tu propia obra. Tú eres tu mejor creación.
La lista de Schindler (Biblioteca De Bolsillo/ediciones B Ser. #Vol. 8)
by Thomas KeneallyQuien salva la vida de un hombre salva al mundo entero. La novela que inspiró la película de Steven Spielberg. Él era Oskar Schindler. Un empresario alemán, miembro del partido nazi, que, con osadía e ingenio, se convirtió en un héroe en medio del horror de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En este gran hito de la literatura sobre el Holocausto, Thomas Keneally recrea magistralmente sus peligrosas proezas y cómo utilizó su fortuna para comprar una fábrica cerca de un campo de concentración y así salvar la vida de más de 1.300 judíos. La crítica ha dicho...«Una asombrosa historia... en este caso la verdad es mucho más poderosa que cualquier producto de la imaginación.»Newsweek «Un relato extraordinario.»The New York Review of Books «Una magnífica narración sobre la grandeza del alma humana.»Los Angeles Times Book Review
Lisa of Willesden Lane: A True Story of Music and Survival During World War II
by Mona Golabek Lee CohenAn inspiring true story about one girl's escape from the Holocaust to become a concert pianist against all odds, made popular by Mona Golabek's acclaimed theatrical performance and the beloved novel The Children of Willesden Lane -- now available in an early chapter book format.In pre-World War II Vienna, Lisa Jura was a musical prodigy who hoped to become a concert pianist. But when enemy forces threatened the city -- especially its Jewish population -- Lisa's parents were forced to make a difficult decision. They secured passage for only one of their three daughters through the Kindertransport, and chose to send gifted Lisa to London for safety. As she yearned to be reunited with her family where she lived in a home for refugee children on Willesden Lane, Lisa's music became a beacon of hope for all of her peers.A story of the power of music to uplift the human spirit, this compelling tribute has moved and inspired hundreds of thousands of students and adults across the globe. Now is the perfect time to bring this timeless story of hope to even younger audiences as Mona Golabek's mission to transform historical testimony into youth empowerment has driven many requests for shorter, illustrated formats. Both a picture book and chapter book will be available.
Lisa Lopes
by Nancy Krulik"Dreams are hopeless aspirations, inhopes of coming true, believe in yourself, the rest is up to me and you." -- "Waterfalls" Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas came together in Atlanta, Georgia, in the early 1990s to form TLC, a group that blended hip-hop, dance, and R&B music so successfully that it went on to be one of the bestselling female groups of all time. This is the story of how Lisa Lopes, the self-proclaimed "crazy" member of TLC, rose above her difficult childhood to attain superstardom. With her funky raps and her vivacious personality, Lisa pursued her dreams and became known as the most energetic member of TLC, who went on to pave the way for many female groups that followed.
The Lipstick Bureau: A Novel Inspired by a Real-Life Female Spy
by Michelle GableInspired by a real-life female spy, a novel about a woman challenging convention and boundaries to help win a war, no matter the cost.&“A gripping, fascinating read.&” —Kelly Rimmer, New York Times bestselling author of The Warsaw Orphan1944, Rome. Newlywed Niki Novotná is recruited by a new American spy agency to establish a secret branch in Italy's capital. One of the OSS's few female operatives abroad and multilingual, she's tasked with crafting fake stories and distributing propaganda to lower the morale of enemy soldiers.Despite limited resources, Niki and a scrappy team of artists, forgers and others—now nicknamed The Lipstick Bureau—find success, forming a bond amid the cobblestoned streets and storied villas of the newly liberated city. But her work is also a way to escape devastating truths about the family she left behind in Czechoslovakia and a future with her controlling American husband.As the war drags on and the pressure intensifies, Niki begins to question the rules she's been instructed to follow, and a colleague unexpectedly captures her heart. But one step out of line, one mistake, could mean life or death…*Don't miss The Beautiful People, Michelle Gable&’s next novel. On sale in April 2024 and available to preorder now!
Lips Unsealed: A Memoir
by Belinda CarlisleThe women of the iconic eighties band the Go-Go's will always be remembered as they appeared on the back of their debut record: sunny, smiling, each soaking in her own private bubble bath with chocolates and champagne. The photo is a perfect tribute to the fun, irreverent brand of pop music that the Go-Go's created, but it also conceals the trials and secret demons that the members of the group - and, in particular, its lead singer, Belinda Carlisle - struggled with on their rise to stardom. Leaving her unstable childhood home at the age of eighteen, Belinda battled serious weight issues, having been teased for her pudginess throughout grade school, and grappled with her confusion about being deserted by her biological father as a child. This talented but misguided teen found solace in the punk rock world that so openly welcomed misfits - even though acceptance had its price. Not long after forming, the Go-Go's became queens of the L. A. punk scene - they sold out venues, attracted a fiercely loyal fan base, and outpartied almost every male band they toured with - and in the process kicked down the doors to the all-boys' club of eighties rock and roll. With a chart-topping debut album, Belinda found herself launched to international superstardom - and with that fame came more access to A-list parties, and even more alcohol and drugs to fuel Go-Go's mania. Inevitably, Belinda began to self-destruct. Lips Unsealed is filled with the wild stories that Belinda Carlisle fans are dying to hear - stories about the band's crazy days on tour with acts like the Police and Madness and the fabulous parties and people to whom the Go-Go's had exclusive access. But more than that, this candid memoir reveals the gritty flip side to the glitz, as Belinda shares her private struggles with abusive relationships, weight, and self-esteem, and a thirty-year battle with drug and alcohol addiction. This spellbinding and shocking look at her rise, fall, and eventual rebirth as a wife, mother, and sober artist will leave you wistfully fantasizing about the eighties decadence she epitomized, but also cringing at the dark despair hidden behind her charming smile. One of the rare adventures through rock stardom told by a woman, Lips Unsealed is ultimately a love letter to music - to the members of the Go-Go's, who've maintained lifelong friendships, and to the beloved husband and son who led Belinda to sobriety - and the story of a life that, though deeply flawed, was, and is still, fully lived.
A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex
by Chris JerichoThe controversial story of Chris Jericho, the former undisputed Heavyweight Champion of WWE.From the age of eight, Chris dreamed of becoming a wrestler. But it wasn't until he was 25 that he hit the big time. Nicknamed 'Lion Heart', Chris eventually attained his ultimate goal - joining the WWF (now WWE). He became one of their biggest stars, even defeating wrestling powerhouses The Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin in the same night to be crowned the undisputed Heavyweight Champion.Now Chris dishes the dirt on his rivalries with other wrestling legends. Whether ripped-off by promoters, robbed at gunpoint or nearly paralysed after landing on his head during a match, Chris maintained his courage, determination and sense of humour about this dangerous and enthralling sport.
A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex
by Chris Jericho Pete FornataleChris Jericho is the first undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the WWE and WCW, and has been called one of the fifty greatest wrestlers of all time. Now retired, he is writing his memoir, telling the story of his journey from wrestling school in Canada to his time in leagues in Mexico and Japan to his big break in the WCW. He'll dish the dirt on how he worked his way through the ranks alongside major wrestling stars like Chris Benoit and Lance Storm to become a major superstar.
Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion
by Robert MorganFrom Thomas Jefferson’s birth in 1743 to the California Gold Rush in 1849, America’s westward expansion comes to life in the hands of a writer fascinated by the way individual lives link up, illuminate one another, and collectively impact history. Jefferson, a naturalist and visionary, dreamed that the United States would stretch across the North American continent, from ocean to ocean. The account of how that dream became reality unfolds in the stories of Jefferson and nine other Americans whose adventurous spirits and lust for land pushed the westward boundaries: Andrew Jackson, John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman, David Crockett, Sam Houston, James K. Polk, Winfield Scott, Kit Carson, Nicholas Trist, and John Quincy Adams. Their stories—and those of the nameless thousands who risked their lives to settle on the frontier, displacing thou- sands of Native Americans—form an extraordinary chapter in American history that led directly to the cataclysm of the Civil War. Filled with illustrations, portraits, maps, battle plans, notes, and time lines, Lions of the West is a richly authoritative biography of America—its ideals, its promise, its romance, and its destiny.
Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds
by Rusty Bradley Kevin MaurerOne of the most critical battles of the Afghan War is now revealed as never before. Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat there.Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in 2006. The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches. A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come.Dispatched as a diversionary force in support of the main coalition attack, Bradley's Special Forces A-team and two others, along with their longtime Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was quickly engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley's small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters--from whom they seized an impossible victory.Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. The blistering trek across Afghanistan's infamous Red Desert. The eerie traces of the elusive Taliban. The close relations with the Afghan people and army, a primary mission focus. Sperwan Ghar itself: unremitting waves of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; a targeted truck turned into an inferno; the death trap of a cut-off compound. Most important: the men, Americans and Afghans alike--the "shaky" medic with nerves of steel and a surgeon's hands in battle; the tireless sergeant who seems to be everywhere at once; the soft-spoken intelligence officer with laser-sharp insight; the diminutive Afghan commander with a Goliath-sized heart; the cool maverick who risks all to rescue a grievously wounded comrade--each unique, all indelible in their everyday exercise of extraordinary heroism.From the Hardcover edition.
Lions of Ireland: A Celebration of Irish Rugby Legends
by David WalmsleyLook for a Lions legend and the chances are you will find an Irishman. Throughout the touring team's history, the heroes of Irish rugby have been at the heart of the Lions' finest hours - on and off the pitch. Look at the Lions record books and you will find Irishmen at the top of almost every list, from Willie John McBride and Tony O'Reilly to Ronnie Dawson. No nation has provided more leaders of the Lions. In Lions of Ireland, these greats tell their stories of life on some of the longest, hardest roads in sport. Those featured include world-class players and characters who have contributed to Lions folklore, such as Karl Mullen, Jack Kyle, Fergus Slattery, Tom Kiernan, Mike Gibson and Syd Millar - and the account is brought up to date with contributions from the likes of Keith Wood. This book includes a complete reference section featuring every Irish player to have represented the Lions in Tests since the first united tour of 1910. It recalls the powerful personalities and relives the most dramatic deeds in the Lions' long history - from the 1971 groundbreaking triumph against the All Blacks and success against the odds in South Africa in 1997 to the 2005 tour of New Zealand.
Lions of England
by Peter JacksonEngland has contributed some of the greatest players and most colourful characters to the rich history of the Lions, and never more so than in recent years. During the course of little more than a decade, a golden era for the Red Rose yielded four Grand Slams en route to the thrilling climax of the World Cup victory in Sydney, a triumph which has catapulted some of the side's stars to a higher plane in the nation's affections. It is not surprising, therefore, that English players have dominated the last four Lions tours in a way which none of the home countries has done before. Lions of England presents the country's most famous players in a series of revealing portraits, each telling a fascinating story woven around monumental Test matches. Rich in previously untold anecdote and humour, these accounts illustrate the lives and times of the greats spanning three-quarters of a century - from one pre-war knight of the realm, Carl Aarvold, to a more recent one, Clive Woodward. All the evocative names of English rugby are featured here, from Dickie Jeeps to Martin Johnson, Jeff Butterfield to Jason Robinson, Dean Richards to Lawrence Dallaglio. Other chapters are devoted to Peter Jackson (a rather better player than the author), John Pullin, Roger Uttley, Fran Cotton, David Duckham, Bill Beaumont, Peter Wheeler, Jeremy Guscott, Rob Andrew, Jason Leonard and, of course, Jonny Wilkinson.Peter Jackson, the Daily Mail's award-winning rugby writer, has drawn on all his experience and eye for the unusual to give the reader an insight into what makes these talented players tick as people, the early influences which shaped their careers and the momentous events which made them household names. Bang up to date with the inclusion of the summer 2005 series against the All Blacks and a comprehensive records appendix, Lions of England is sure to inform and entertain rugby lovers of every generation in equal measure.
Lionheart
by Graham Thomas Richard HibbardWhen Lions and Wales rugby star Richard Hibbard crashed into George Smith under a clear night sky in Australia, it felt as though the tremors might have rocked Sydney Harbour Bridge. Smith was the 'Mr Indestructible' of Australian rugby, yet he was helped off the pitch. Hooker Hibbard simply shook his trademark blond locks and carried on helping the Lions earn their 2013 series victory. Soon, pictures of "Hibbz" celebrating in the dressing room with James Bond actor Daniel Craig were being beamed around the world. In Lionheart the Ospreys star reflects on his long and often rocky road to the top of world rugby: from his roots in Port Talbot, to his stint with rugby league club Aberavon Fighting Irish, to fighting back from countless serious injuries.
Lionesses Rule (Football Superstars #26)
by Simon MugfordWho isn't a fan of the Lionesses?! Currently ranked among the world's top five, the current team have grown into a powerhouse and claimed their place as the best in Europe on home soil in that thrilling final at Wembley in the summer of 2022!Football Superstar's dynamic duo, Dan and Simon, were glued to their screens too, and are now here to tell you the story of how the Lionesses became so mighty. They look back at how the sport rose from a 50-year ban to becoming one of the nation's most eagerly watched games. Along the way you'll learn about the legendary players, managers, matches, songs, fans and, of course, all the awesome stats that tell the story of the Lionesses' glory trail on the international stage.Football Superstars is a series aimed at building a love of reading from a young age, with fun cartoons, inspirational stories, a simple narrative style and a cast of characters chipping in with quotes, jokes and comments.
Lionesses Rule (Football Superstars #25)
by Simon MugfordWho isn't a fan of the Lionesses?! Currently ranked among the world's top five, the current team have grown into a powerhouse and claimed their place as the best in Europe on home soil in that thrilling final at Wembley in the summer of 2022!Football Superstar's dynamic duo, Dan and Simon, were glued to their screens too, and are now here to tell you the story of how the Lionesses became so mighty. They look back at how the sport rose from a 50-year ban to becoming one of the nation's most eagerly watched games. Along the way you'll learn about the legendary players, managers, matches, songs, fans and, of course, all the awesome stats that tell the story of the Lionesses' glory trail on the international stage.Football Superstars is a series aimed at building a love of reading from a young age, with fun cartoons, inspirational stories, a simple narrative style and a cast of characters chipping in with quotes, jokes and comments.
Lioness - My Journey to Glory: Winner of the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year 2023
by Beth MeadThe Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year 2023Fully updated paperback edition, with two new chaptersBeth Mead is one of the world's most talented footballers - Golden Boot winner and Player of the Tournament at the UEFA Euro 2022, England Player of the Year 2021-22, Arsenal Player of the Season 2021-22, and nominee for the 2022 Ballon d'Or. But long before this, Beth was just an ordinary kid from Hinderwell, North Yorkshire who wanted to play football. Now, Beth shares the challenges that shaped her, what she faced on the journey to the top, and the life events that made her stronger - from being dropped from the England squad and receiving devastating family news, to finding her best form under the guidance of Jonas Eidevall and Sarina Wiegman. Filled with positive lessons and an exclusive account of England's triumphant Euros campaign, Beth offers readers of all ages a heartfelt, behind-the-scenes look into her remarkable journey to glory. Empowering, inspirational and honest, this is Beth's story.This paperback edition has been fully updated to include the details of the 2022-23 season, Beth's ACL injury and her recovery, her thoughts on the 2023 Women's World Cup, as well as overcoming devastating personal challenges and how this has made her even stronger.
Lioness - My Journey to Glory: Winner of the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year 2023
by Beth MeadThe Sunday Times bestseller and winner of the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year 2023Fully updated paperback edition, with two new chaptersBeth Mead is one of the world's most talented footballers - Golden Boot winner and Player of the Tournament at the UEFA Euro 2022, England Player of the Year 2021-22, Arsenal Player of the Season 2021-22, and nominee for the 2022 Ballon d'Or. But long before this, Beth was just an ordinary kid from Hinderwell, North Yorkshire who wanted to play football. Now, Beth shares the challenges that shaped her, what she faced on the journey to the top, and the life events that made her stronger - from being dropped from the England squad and receiving devastating family news, to finding her best form under the guidance of Jonas Eidevall and Sarina Wiegman. Filled with positive lessons and an exclusive account of England's triumphant Euros campaign, Beth offers readers of all ages a heartfelt, behind-the-scenes look into her remarkable journey to glory. Empowering, inspirational and honest, this is Beth's story.This paperback edition has been fully updated to include the details of the 2022-23 season, Beth's ACL injury and her recovery, her thoughts on the 2023 Women's World Cup, as well as overcoming devastating personal challenges and how this has made her even stronger.
The Lioness in Winter: Writing an Old Woman's Life
by Ann Burack-WeissWhen she started working with the aged more than forty years ago, Ann Burack-Weiss began storing the knowledge and skills she thought would help when she got old herself. It was not until she hit her mid-seventies that she realized she had packed sneakers to climb Mount Everest, not anticipating the crevices and chasms that constitute the rocky terrain of old age. The professional gerontological and social work literature offered little help, so she turned to the late-life works of beloved women authors who had bravely climbed the mountain and sent back news from the summit. Maya Angelou, Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Marguerite Duras, M. F. K. Fisher, Doris Lessing, Mary Oliver, Adrienne Rich, May Sarton, and Florida Scott-Maxwell were among the many guides she turned to for inspiration. In The Lioness in Winter, Burack-Weiss blends an analysis of key writings from these and other famed women authors with her own wisdom to create an essential companion for older women and those who care for them. She fearlessly examines issues such as living with loss, finding comfort and joy in unexpected places, and facing disability and death. This book is filled with powerful passages from women who turned their experiences of aging into art, and Burack-Weiss ties their words to her own struggles and epiphanies, framing their collective observations with key insights from social work practice.
Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel
by Francine KlagsbrunThe definitive biography of the iron-willed leader, chain-smoking political operative, and tea-and-cake-serving grandmother who became the fourth prime minister of Israel Golda Meir was a world figure unlike any other. Born in tsarist Russia in 1898, she immigrated to America in 1906 and grew up in Milwaukee, where from her earliest years she displayed the political consciousness and organizational skills that would eventually catapult her into the inner circles of Israel's founding generation. Moving to mandatory Palestine in 1921 with her husband, the passionate socialist joined a kibbutz but soon left and was hired at a public works office by the man who would become the great love of her life. A series of public service jobs brought her to the attention of David Ben-Gurion, and her political career took off. Fund-raising in America in 1948, secretly meeting in Amman with King Abdullah right before Israel's declaration of independence, mobbed by thousands of Jews in a Moscow synagogue in 1948 as Israel's first representative to the USSR, serving as minister of labor and foreign minister in the 1950s and 1960s, Golda brought fiery oratory, plainspoken appeals, and shrewd deal-making to the cause to which she had dedicated her life—the welfare and security of the State of Israel and its inhabitants. As prime minister, Golda negotiated arms agreements with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger and had dozens of clandestine meetings with Jordan's King Hussein in the unsuccessful pursuit of a land-for-peace agreement with Israel's neighbors. But her time in office ended in tragedy, when Israel was caught off guard by Egypt and Syria's surprise attack on Yom Kippur in 1973. Analyzing newly available documents from Israeli government archives, Francine Klagsbrun looks into whether Golda could have prevented that war and whether in its darkest days she contemplated using nuclear force. Resigning in the war's aftermath, she spent her final years keeping a hand in national affairs and bemusedly enjoying international acclaim. Klagsbrun's superbly researched and masterly recounted story of Israel's founding mother gives us a Golda for the ages.
Lionel Trilling and Irving Howe: And Other Stories of Literary Friendship
by Edward AlexanderThis pioneering effort links history and personality, by pairing intellectual friends and foes, most notably Lionel Trilling and Irving Howe, but also Thomas Carlyle and John Stuart Mill, T.E. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell, and lesser known figures. The periods range from the early 1830s, when Carlyle and Mill discovered each other, to 1975, when Lionel Thrilling died and the relationship with Howe ended. The essay that gives this volume its title is also the most ambitious. Alexander examines Trilling and Howe in relation to one another, as well as their comparative reactions to the Holocaust. He explores their participation in the fierce disputes of the fifties over the relationship between literature and society, and their perspectives on the turmoil of the American sixties. The chapter on the friendships (and ex-friendships) of Carlyle and Mill, Lawrence and Russell, views their stories against the background of the modern conflict between reason and feeling, positivism and imagination. But Alexander avoids viewing each pair of friends as counterparts. Though relationships may have begun in adversity, they sometimes developed into friendships. As a young woman, George Eliot dismissed Jews as candidates for 'extermination', but her friendship with the Talmudic scholar Emanuel Deutsch changed her into one of the major Judeophiles of the Victorian period. And the quartet of Thomas Carlyle, J. S. Mill, D. H. Lawrence and Bertrand Russell shows how quickly-formed literary friendships, especially those based on the hunger for disciples, sometimes dissolve into ex-friendships. This volume reveals new perspectives on leading literary figures and their relationships, and shows how personal friendship influences art.
Lionel Robbins
by Susan HowsonBy the time of his death the English economist Lionel Robbins (1898-1984) was celebrated as a 'renaissance man'. He made major contributions to his own academic discipline and applied his skills as an economist not only to practical problems of economic policy - with conspicuous success when he served as head of the economists advising the wartime coalition government of Winston Churchill in 1940-45 - and of higher education - the 'Robbins Report' of 1963 - but also to the administration of the visual and performing arts that he loved deeply. He was devoted to the London School of Economics, from his time as an undergraduate following active service as an artillery officer on the Western Front in 1917-18, through his years as Professor of Economics (1929-62), and his stint as chairman of the governors during the 'troubles' of the late 1960s. This comprehensive biography, based on his personal and professional correspondence and other papers, covers all these many and varied activities.