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A Genius for Failure: The Life of Benjamin Robert Haydon
by Paul O'Keeffe* Haydon's first attempt at suicide ended when the low calibre bullet fired from his pistol fractured his skull but failed to penetrate his brain. * His second attempt also failed: a deep slash across his throat left a large pool of blood at the entrance to his studio, but he was still able to reach his easel on the opposite side of the room. *Only his third attempt, another cut to the throat which sprayed blood across his unfinished canvas, was successful. He died face-down before the bespattered 'Alfred and the First British Jury', his final bid 'to improve the taste of the English people' through the High Art of historical painting.* Such intensity, struggle and near-comic inability to succeed encapsulate Haydon's career. Thirty years before his death his huge, iconic paintings had made him the toast of early 19th-century London, drawing paying crowds to the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly for months and leading to nationwide tours. * However, his attempt to repeat such success three months before his death was to destroy him: barely a soul turned up, leaving the desperate painter alone, humiliated, and facing financial ruin. * In A Genius for Failure Paul O'Keeffe makes clear that the real tragedy of Haydon lay in the extent to which his failures were unwittingly engineered by his own actions - his refusal to resort to the painting of fashionable portraits, for example, and his self-destructively acrimonious relationship with the RA.* The company he kept - Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington, among many others - and the momentous events he lived through - The Battle of Waterloo, the Coronation of George IV, and the passing of the first Parliamentary Reform Bill - make A Genius for Failure not only the definitive biography of this fascinating and tragic painter, but a stirring portrayal of an age.
A Genius for Money
by Caroline DakersThis is the spectacular rags-to-riches story of James Morrison (1789-1857), who began life humbly but through hard work and entrepreneurial brilliance acquired a fortune unequalled in nineteenth-century England. Using the extensive Morrison archive, Caroline Dakers presents the first substantial biography of the richest commoner in England, recounting the details of Morrison's personal life while also placing him in the Victorian age of enterprise that made his success possible.An affectionate husband and father of ten, Morrison made his first fortune in textiles, then a second in international finance. He invested in North American railways, was involved in global trade from Canton to Valparaiso, created hundreds of jobs, and relished the challenges of "the science of business". His success enabled him to acquire land, houses, and works of art on a scale to rival the grandest of aristocrats.
A Genre Approach to Celebrity Politics
by Nahuel RibkeExploring the transition of celebrities into institutional-electoral politics, the book argues that many insights developed by genre theorists could be highly instrumental to understand the celebrity politics phenomenon. It analyzes the historical and cultural specificity of celebrity politics as it evolved through different countries and cultures.
A Gentleman from Japan: The Untold Story of an Incredible Journey from Asia to Queen Elizabeth’s Court
by Thomas LockleyAn incredible sea story that turns the Age of Exploration on its head, following the first Japanese man to set foot on North America and England. On November 12, 1588, five young Asian men—led by a twenty-one-year-old called Christopher—traveled up the River Thames to meet Queen Elizabeth I. Christopher&’s epic sea voyage had spanned from Japan, via the Philippines, New Spain (Mexico), Java and Southern Africa. On the way, he had already become the first recorded Japanese person in North America. Now Christopher was the first ever Japanese visitor to England, and no other would leave such a legacy for centuries to come. The story of Christopher is almost utterly forgotten and has never been fully told before.A Gentleman from Japan is a fast-paced, historical narrative of adventure, cross-cultural endeavor, intellectual exchange, perseverance, espionage and conflict in the Age of Exploration.
A Gentleman in Charleston and the Manner of His Death: A Novel
by William Baldwin“Baldwin again proves himself to be a writer uniquely adept at bridging high art with the wild ride of a page-turning southern yarn.” —Bret Lott, national bestselling author of JewelOnce deemed “the most powerful man in the South,” Charleston newspaper editor Frank Dawson met his violent death on March 12, 1889, at the hands of his neighbor, a disreputable doctor who was attempting to seduce the Dawson family governess.With a southern storyteller’s passion for intricate emotional and physical details, Baldwin, through the fictional guise of Capt. David Lawton, chronicles editor Dawson’s fated end. Having survived three years of bloody Civil War combat and the decade of violent Reconstruction that followed, the liberal-minded Lawton is now an embattled newspaperman whose national importance is on the wane. Still, he remains a celebrated member of Charleston’s elite, while in private life moving amid a pantheon of proud and beautiful women—Sarah, his brilliant wife; Abbie, his sensual sister-in-law; Mary, the all-knowing prostitute; and Hélène, the discontented Swiss governess—each contributing to an unfolding drama of history-haunted turmoil.War, earthquake, political guile, adultery, illegitimacy, lust, and murder—all the devices of gothic romance—play a role in this tale closely based on the lives of Charlestonians who lived these events over a century ago.“William Baldwin is that rare southern writer who writes for all people of all time. As I read his beautiful words in A Gentleman in Charleston and the Manner of His Death I walked the Holy City’s streets with my ancestors and, believe me, I never wanted the trip to end. This is an important book and a wonderful rich story.” —Dorothea Benton Frank, New York Times–bestselling author
A Gentleman of Pleasure
by Brian BusbyA Gentleman of Pleasure not only spans Glassco's life but delves into his background as a member of a once prominent and powerful Montreal family. In addition to Glassco's readily available work, Brian Busby draws on pseudonymous writings published as a McGill student as well as unpublished and previously unknown poems, letters, and journal entries to detail a vibrant life while pulling back the curtain on Glassco's sexuality and unconventional tastes. In a lively account of a man given to deception, who took delight in hoaxes, Busby manages to substantiate many of the often unreliable statements Glassco made about his life and work. A Gentleman of Pleasure is a remarkable biography that captures the knowable truth about a fascinatingly complex and secretive man.
A Gentleman of Pleasure: One Life of John Glassco, Poet, Memoirist, Translator, and Pornographer
by Brian BusbyA Gentleman of Pleasure not only spans Glassco's life but delves into his background as a member of a once prominent and powerful Montreal family. In addition to Glassco's readily available work, Brian Busby draws on pseudonymous writings published as a McGill student as well as unpublished and previously unknown poems, letters, and journal entries to detail a vibrant life while pulling back the curtain on Glassco's sexuality and unconventional tastes. In a lively account of a man given to deception, who took delight in hoaxes, Busby manages to substantiate many of the often unreliable statements Glassco made about his life and work. A Gentleman of Pleasure is a remarkable biography that captures the knowable truth about a fascinatingly complex and secretive man.
A Gentleman of Substance
by Richard FeltoeA Gentleman of Substance covers the remarkable life of John Redpath. Born to humble circumstances in Scotland in 1796, he emigrated to Canada in 1816 to become a stonemason in Montreal. By 1818 he had his own building and contracting firm and was working on the Lachine Canal as well as much construction and restoration work on buildings in Montreal. His work on the Rideau Canal, as contracted by Colonel John By, established his business reputation, while his leadership within the Presbyterian Church stabilized his position in the community. His involvement in the political and military life of Montreal is traced from before the 1837 Rebellion period through to his involvement with the Annexation Movement, making him an obvious candidate for the Montreal City Council. The author traces John Redpath’s upwardly mobile social status, his friendship with Peter McGill, and his acceptance into the elite society of Montreal, earning him a place within the coveted “Square Mile.” Despite a rigorous business schedule and extensive family responsibilities (he fathered 17 children), he was a frequent benevolent contributor to community needs, as well as participating on numerous Boards and Committees and contributing to the shaping of the urban design of Montreal. Attention is given to his expansive home, Terrace Bank, the subsequent subdivision of his estate and the early residential expansion of Montreal, and to his founding of the Canada Sugar Refinery and its growth.
A Geography of Blood
by Candace Savage*Finalist, Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-FictionWhen Candace Savage and her partner buy a house in the romantic little town of Eastend, she has no idea what awaits her. At first she enjoys exploring the area around their new home, including the boyhood haunts of the celebrated American writer Wallace Stegner, the back roads of the Cypress Hills, the dinosaur skeletons at the T.Rex Discovery Centre, the fossils to be found in the dust-dry hills. She also revels in her encounters with the wild inhabitants of this mysterious land-three coyotes in a ditch at night, their eyes glinting in the dark; a deer at the window; a cougar pussy-footing it through a gully a few minutes' walk from town.But as Savage explores further, she uncovers a darker reality-a story of cruelty and survival set in the still-recent past--and finds that she must reassess the story she grew up with as the daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter of prairie homesteaders.Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and imbued with Savage's passion for this place, A Geography of Blood offers both a shocking new version of plains history and an unforgettable portrait of the windswept, shining country of the Cypress Hills.
A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs
by Joanne Major Sarah Murden&“A very fair and balanced portrait of one of the Regency era&’s most remarkable—and most unknown—women&” from the authors of A Right Royal Scandal (Jacqueline Reiter, author of Earl of Shadows). Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs lived an incredible life, one which proved that fact is often much stranger than fiction. As a young woman she endured a tortured existence at the hands of a male tormentor, but emerged from that to reinvent herself as a playwright and author; a political pamphleteer and a spy, working for the British Government; and later single-handedly organizing George III&’s jubilee celebrations. Trapped in France during the revolutionary years of 1792–95, she published an anonymous account of her adventures. However, was everything as it seemed? The extraordinary Mrs. Biggs lived life upon her own terms in an age when it was a man&’s world, using politicians as her mouthpiece in the Houses of Parliament and corresponding with the greatest men of the day. Throughout it all though, she held on to the ideal of her one youthful true love, a man who abandoned her to her fate and spent his entire adult life in India. In A Georgian Heroine, we delve into Mrs. Biggs&’ life to reveal her accomplishments and lay bare her continued reinvention of herself. This is the bizarre but true story of an astounding woman persevering in a man&’s world. &“Reading the first few pages of this absorbing biography, it is hard to believe that the authors haven&’t concocted a wild historical spoof, for this is truly an amazing story.&” —Jane Austen&’s Regency World
A German Officer in Occupied Paris: The War Journals, 1941-1945 (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism)
by Ernst JüngerErnst Jünger was one of twentieth-century Germany’s most important—and most controversial—writers. Decorated for bravery in World War I and the author of the acclaimed western front memoir Storm of Steel, he frankly depicted war’s horrors even as he extolled its glories. As a Wehrmacht captain during World War II, Jünger faithfully kept a journal in occupied Paris and continued to write on the eastern front and in Germany until its defeat—writings that are of major historical and literary significance.Jünger’s Paris journals document his Francophile excitement, romantic affairs, and fascination with botany and entomology, alongside mystical and religious ruminations and trenchant observations on the occupation and the politics of collaboration. While working as a mail censor, he led the privileged life of an officer, encountering artists such as Céline, Cocteau, Braque, and Picasso. His notes from the Caucasus depict the chaos after Stalingrad and atrocities on the eastern front. Upon returning to Paris, Jünger observed the French resistance and was close to the German military conspirators who plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1944. After fleeing France, he reunited with his family as Germany’s capitulation approached. Both participant and commentator, close to the horrors of history but often distancing himself from them, Jünger turned his life and experiences into a work of art. These wartime journals appear here in English for the first time, giving fresh insights into the quandaries of the twentieth century from the keen pen of a paradoxical observer.
A German POW in New Mexico (Historical Society of New Mexico Publication Series)
by Walter SchmidWalter Schmid, a member of Rommel's Afrika Korps, was one of hundreds of thousands of POWs interned in the United States during World War II. Drafted into the German army at twenty, he had fought for only five months when captured in Tunisia in May 1943. Schmid was sent first to POW camps in Oklahoma (Gruber, Bixby, and McAlester) and was soon transferred to New Mexico in July 1944.Walter Schmid worked in southern New Mexico's Mesilla Valley picking cotton and harvesting melons alongside Mexican-American laborers. He recalls playing trumpet in the camp orchestra and watching Sunday soccer games between the teams of rival POW camps. Based on his diary and the letters he sent home to his German girlfriend, whom he later married, Schmid's memoir was published in Germany in 2000. This abbreviated English translation begins with his capture in North Africa and his voyage to the United States and ends with his work experience in England, where he was transferred after almost three years of captivity in the United States, and his return to Germany in 1947.
A German Tommy: The Secret of a War Hero
by Ken Anderson&“How a soldier of German ancestry hid his identity to serve with the British Army . . . [Anderson] has pieced together Schwarz&’s remarkable story&” (The Daily Telegraph). It was a time of misguided loyalties. The First World War British Army, in a shameful act of patriotism, was withdrawing from the front line veterans who had a German name and posting them to a non-combatants regiment. At home, anti-German feeling was reaching fever pitch. However, one young man, the son of a German father, conspired to have the Army send him into battle. In doing so he became a hero. This is the story of the &“German Tommy,&” Walter Schwarz (alias Lieutenant Walter Lancelot Merritt, Military Cross and Bar, bearer of the king&’s pardon), told in full for the first time after years of research in Australia and Britain. It reveals why and how others helped the young man from Queensland—an Australian Army deserter—survive in an atmosphere that was poisonous at home and in battle for those of German blood who were, nevertheless, like Schwarz, loyal to king and country. Ken Anderson has gone behind the accepted facts to claim how official documents were altered and members of a secret society lied and swore false testimony to help Schwarz, acting on their oath to help a fellow member in distress. The book offers an insight into the way in which people of German origin were treated in Australia and Britain during the First World War, as well as how Freemasonry, at its peak at that time, helped men of humble backgrounds improve their status in life.
A Ghost Town on the Yellowstone
by Elliot PaulThe charm of Elliot Paul’s storytelling is that nowhere does he allow relevancy to cloud the brilliance of his art. Mr. Paul seeks to pleasure you. Like a skilful skater on a frozen pond he cuts intricate figures on memory’s gleaming surface. If, here and there, the ice is thin he chances it rather than interrupt the onlooker’s delight. To Mr. Paul, the figure’s the thing.So, in A Ghost Town on the Yellowstone, which was first published in 1948, Mr. Paul reaches back to the year 1907 and to his youthful adventures on a project of the United States Reclamation Service in Montana. With him you start on one of the oddest stagecoach rides in history—a ride in which no matter how the passengers change at various stops their number is always thirteen, a circumstance to make the driver consult his whisky jug more frequently than usual. The hapless coach—jinxed to the whiffletrees, overturns, dumps its passengers into the sagebrush and thus precipitates the founding of the town of Trembles. Thanks to Mr. Paul’s keen observation (vitamin enriched and thoroughly irradiated) you meet the first citizens of Trembles—a saloonkeeper, two Chinese, a scissorbill, and a woman somewhat less ancient than the profession she follows. Thenceforth you participate in some of the most astonishing, humorous and touching events ever to take place in that part of the Wild West. To tell you more would be to cheat you of your full quota of agreeable surprises.
A Ghost in the Throat
by Doireann Ní GhríofaA New York Times Notable Book for 2021, this is a contemporary Irish poet's musings and obssession over a seventeenth-century poet's written keen on the murder of her husband. Themes include erasure of a people, of a language, of women; a meditation on motherhood and on translation; and an unforgettable story about finding your voice by freeing another's. The poem at issue is printed on both Gaelic with translation into modern English on pages 284 to 320 and was carefully proofread for accuracy. The Gaelic and English are shown on alternating even (Gaelic) and odd (English translation) pages respectively.
A Giacometti Portrait
by James LordWhen we look at a painting hanging on an art-gallery wall, we see only what the artist has chosen to disclose -- the finished work of art. What remains mysterious is the process of creation itself -- the making of the work of art. Everyone who has looked at paintings has wondered about this, and numerous efforts have been made to discover and depict the creative method of important artists. A Giacometti Portrait is a picture of one of the century's greatest artists at work.<P> James Lord sat for eighteen days while his friend Alberto Giacometti did his portrait in oil. The artist painted, and the model recorded the sittings and took photographs of the work in its various stages. What emerged was an illumination of what it is to be an artist and what it was to be Giacometti -- a portrait in prose of the man and his art. A work of great literary distinction, A Giacometti Portrait is, above all, a subtle and important evocation of a great artist.
A Giant among Giants: The Baseball Life of Willie McCovey
by Chris HaftWillie McCovey, known as &“Stretch,&” played Major League Baseball from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of the San Francisco Giants for nineteen seasons. A fearsome left-handed power hitter, McCovey ranked second only to Babe Ruth in career home runs among left-handed batters and tied for eighth overall with Ted Williams at the time of his retirement. He was a six-time All-Star, three-time National League home run champion, and 1969 league MVP, and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 in his first year of eligibility. Known as a dead-pull line drive hitter, McCovey was called &“the scariest hitter in baseball&” by pitcher Bob Gibson. Born in Mobile, Alabama, McCovey encountered daunting hurdles, such as Jim Crow laws that prevented him from playing organized ball as a youth and playing for Major League managers such as Tom Sheehan and Alvin Dark, who took a dim view of his abilities. But neither that nor other difficulties on the field—the platooning, the slights, the unrelenting injuries—seemed to affect McCovey, as he remained grateful to be playing baseball. McCovey was the most treasured Bay Area icon of all, a humble, approachable superstar who earned the admiration of seemingly everyone he encountered. McCovey&’s life wasn&’t measured in his home run and RBI totals, though those were impressive. His greatest significance lay in the warmth and respect he extended and which others reciprocated. These elements elevated McCovey to a pantheon where relatively few athletes reside. He remains synonymous with not just the team he ennobled but also the city he represented. In A Giant among Giants, the first biography of McCovey, who passed away in 2018 at the age of eighty, Chris Haft tells the story of one of baseball&’s best hitters and most-beloved players.
A Gift from Bob: How a Street Cat Helped One Man Learn the Meaning of Christmas
by James BowenBob Fever has swept the globe, with A Street Cat Named Bob vaulting its way to #7 on The New York Times bestseller list in its first week on sale. With rights sold to 27 countries around the globe and a top spot on the British bestseller list for more than a year, this book has been a smashing success around the world. As Street Cat Bob and James spend a cold and challenging December on the streets together, James once more draws strength and inspiration from his extraordinary cat--learning important lessons about the true meaning of Christmas along the way.From the day James rescued a street cat abandoned in the hallway of his sheltered accommodation, they began a friendship which has transformed both their lives and, through the bestselling books A Street Cat Named Bob and The World According to Bob, touched millions around the world.In this new story of their journey together, James looks back at the last Christmas they spent scraping a living on the streets and how Bob helped him through one of his toughest times--providing strength, friendship and inspiration but also teaching him important lessons about the true meaning of Christmas along the way.Readers who fell in love with Dewey and Marley, as well as the hundreds of thousands of fans who read A Street Cat Named Bob and The World According to Bob, will be eager to read the next chapters in the life of James and Bob.
A Gift from Brittany
by Marjorie PriceThe enchanting memoir of an artist?s liberating sojourn in France during the sixties?and the friendship that transformed her life While in her late twenties, Marjorie Price leaves the comfort of her Chicago suburb to strike out on her own in Paris and hone her artistic talents. Dazzled by everything French, she falls in love with a volatile French painter and they purchase an old farmhouse in the Breton countryside. When Marjorie?s seemingly idyllic marriage begins to unravel, she forms a friendship with an elderly peasant woman, Jeanne, who is illiterate, has three cows to her name, and has never left the village. Their differences are staggering yet they forge a friendship that transforms one another?s life. .
A Gift from Darkness
by Andrea Claudia Hoffmann Patience IbrahimThe inspirational story of a pregnant young Nigerian woman and the horrors she endured to save her unborn child when she was kidnapped by Boko Haram.When she was nineteen, Patience Ibrahim's first husband was murdered by Boko Haram. She fled to the safety of her village and remarried several months later. Having prayed for a child for years, Patience is overjoyed when she discovers she is pregnant. But her joy is short-lived: Boko Haram soldiers are at her door. Brutally abducted and forced to convert to Islam, she lives in constant terror of what her kidnappers have in store for her. She finds herself alone in the world and fears her life is over. For two months, Patience hides her pregnancy while facing the brutalities meted out by Boko Haram. By the sheer force of her determination to protect her baby, she and her child are able to survive. Now, she has entrusted journalist Andrea C. Hoffmann with her story, a powerful first-person account of Boko Haram's atrocities in Nigeria and Cameroon.One of the first testimonies on the terrorist group's war crimes in Western Africa, A Gift from Darkness poignantly shows the human toll of a crisis that demands attention.
A Gift from Darkness: How I Escaped with my Daughter from Boko Haram
by Andrea C Hoffmann Patience IbrahimWhen Patience Ibrahim's husband died, she feared that her life was over. She had prayed every night for a baby to complete her family, and suddenly she found herself a nineteen-year-old widow, alone in the world. But when she fell in love again, a happy future seemed possible. Patience married once more , and was overjoyed to discover that she was pregnant.A few days later, everything fell apart. Men from Boko Haram arrived at her door, killing Patience's new husband and kidnapping her. This is the incredible true story of her and her baby daughter's survival, against all the odds.
A Gift from Darkness: How I Escaped with my Daughter from Boko Haram
by Andrea C Hoffmann Patience IbrahimWhen Patience Ibrahim's husband died, she feared that her life was over. She had prayed every night for a baby to complete her family, and suddenly she found herself a nineteen-year-old widow, alone in the world. But when she fell in love again, a happy future seemed possible. Patience married once more , and was overjoyed to discover that she was pregnant.A few days later, everything fell apart. Men from Boko Haram arrived at her door, killing Patience's new husband and kidnapping her. This is the incredible true story of her and her baby daughter's survival, against all the odds.
A Gift in December: An utterly romantic feel-good winter read
by Jenny GladwellLove can grow anywhere in this cosy, romantic tale inspired by London's most famous Christmas tree. A heartwarming festive read set in beautiful Norway - perfect for fans of Veronica Henry, Jojo Moyes and One Day in December. Jane has given up on love. She might have uncovered the news scandal of the year, but she's also been dumped by boyfriend Simon . . . and has spent the last month avoiding him at the office. With Christmas fast-approaching, Jane's heart is no closer to mending.But Jane's boss has other plans for her. She needs someone to go on a luxurious press trip to Norway to cover the story of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree and she's selected Jane to go.Jane would much rather wallow at home than spend a week in the fjords with some ditzy bloggers, a snippy publicist, ever-cheerful colleague Ben and handsome-but-arrogant TV presenter Philip Donnelly. But as Jane throws herself into the trip and starts to enjoy herself, it seems that love hasn't quite given up on her just yet... Amid all the snow, could a gift be awaiting her underneath the mistletoe? (P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
A Gift of Hope
by Danielle SteelIn her powerful memoir His Bright Light, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel opened her heart to share the devastating story of the loss of her beloved son. In A Gift of Hope, she shows us how she transformed that pain into a campaign of service that enriched her life beyond what she could imagine. For eleven years, Danielle Steel took to the streets with a small team to help the homeless of San Francisco. She worked anonymously, visiting the "cribs" of the city's most vulnerable citizens under cover of darkness, distributing food, clothing, bedding, tools, and toiletries. She sought no publicity for her efforts and remained anonymous throughout. Now she is speaking to bring attention to their plight. In this unflinchingly honest and deeply moving memoir, the famously private author speaks out publicly for the first time about her work among the most desperate members of our society. She offers achingly acute portraits of the people she met along the way--and issues a heartfelt call for more effective action to aid this vast, deprived population. Determined to supply the homeless with the basic necessities to keep them alive, she ends up giving them something far more powerful: a voice. By turns candid and inspirational, Danielle Steel's A Gift of Hope is a true act of advocacy and love.
A Gift of Hope: The Tony Melendez Story
by Mel White Tony MelendezFrom the Publisher: The inspiring story of a young thalidomide victim and talented musician who has gained international recognition. Wonderful reading for anyone--especially those facing seemingly insurmountable difficulties. ... This is a beautifully, and positively, written autobiography. Melendez neither downplays his and his family's struggles resulting from his lack of arms, nor does he whine about them. Writing about his father, "Still, he knew that only in America would he find the kind of medical treatment I needed, so he put his own dreams aside and began to dream for me. He was young, strong, and determined to provide for each of us-but especially, I believe, for me. Imagine his growing frustration as he tried to support us on the minimum wage jobs that he could find. And there was no extra time or money to train in another field. [In Nicaragua, he was educated and accomplished in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry.] Instead, he found himself in a huge pool of cheap labor as more and more unskilled young people migrated to America."