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A Jew Among Romans
by Frederic RaphaelFrom the acclaimed biographer, screenwriter, and novelist Frederic Raphael, here is an audacious history of Josephus (37-c.100), the Jewish general turned Roman historian, whose emblematic betrayal is a touchstone for the Jew alone in the Gentile world. Joseph ben Mattathias's transformation into Titus Flavius Josephus, historian to the Roman emperor Vespasian, is a gripping and dramatic story. His life, in the hands of Frederic Raphael, becomes a point of departure for an appraisal of Diasporan Jews seeking a place in the dominant cultures they inhabit. Raphael brings a scholar's rigor, a historian's perspective, and a novelist's imagination to this project. He goes beyond the fascinating details of Josephus's life and his singular literary achievements to examine how Josephus has been viewed by posterity, finding in him the prototype for the un-Jewish Jew, the assimilated intellectual, and the abiding apostate: the recurrent figures in the long centuries of the Diaspora. Raphael's insightful portraits of Yehuda Halevi, Baruch Spinoza, Karl Kraus, Benjamin Disraeli, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Hannah Arendt extend and illuminate the Josephean worldview Raphael so eloquently lays out.
A Jew Who Defeated Nazism: Herbert Sulzbach's Peace, Reconcilliation and a New Germany
by Ainslie HepburnHerbert Sulzbach (18941985), was an influential figure in Britain and Germany who made a remarkable personal contribution to Anglo-German reconciliation following the Second World War. Working with German prisoners of war in Britain in camps that included fanatical Nazis, he guided men of all ranks - including senior officers - to personal educational and cultural achievements in preparation for peace and reconciliation. This graphic and moving account of an untold story shows where reconciliation, and a 'new Germany', were fostered. It is also a personal and family story and a microcosm of European history. Sulzbach was from an elite German Jewish banking family, and educated in the ideals of the German Enlightenment. In the First World War, he served as a front-line artillery officer with the German Imperial Army. Defeat was a shattering disappointment, and the economic depression ruined his business and the family banking fortunes. Sulzbach's life in Berlin with his artistic fe, Beate, was cushioned by wealth and the cultural life of the city, but National Socialism brought this to an end and he fled with Beate to exile in England where they were interned as 'enemy aliens'. On release, Sulzbach served with the British army and found his calling as an interpreter and educator in PoW camps where his work of 'de-nazification' and re-education paved the way to reconciliation.
A Jewish God in Paris
by Mikhail Levitin"The picture resembles a Chagall painting. . . . Or perhaps this anti-autobiography is meant to satirize the old Russian question 'Who is to blame?' with the Jewish answer: Me."--The Times Literary Supplement In the title novella the hero, after a marital infidelity, takes his family to Paris hoping to win his beautiful wife's forgiveness.
A Jewish Guide in the Holy Land
by Jackie FeldmanFor many Evangelical Christians, a trip to the Holy Land is an integral part of practicing their faith. Arriving in groups, most of these pilgrims are guided by Jewish Israeli tour guides. For more than three decades, Jackie Feldman--born into an Orthodox Jewish family in New York, now an Israeli citizen, scholar, and licensed guide--has been leading tours, interpreting Biblical landscapes, and fielding questions about religion and current politics. In this book, he draws on pilgrimage and tourism studies, his own experiences, and interviews with other guides, Palestinian drivers and travel agents, and Christian pastors to examine the complex interactions through which guides and tourists "co-produce" the Bible Land. He uncovers the implicit politics of travel brochures and religious souvenirs. Feldman asks what it means when Jewish-Israeli guides get caught up in their own performances or participate in Christian rituals, and reflects on how his interactions with Christian tourists have changed his understanding of himself and his views of religion.
A Jewish Life on Three Continents: The Memoir of Menachem Mendel Frieden
by Lee Shai WeissbachThis remarkable memoir by Menachem Mendel Frieden illuminates Jewish experience in all three of the most significant centers of Jewish life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It chronicles Frieden's early years in Eastern Europe, his subsequent migration to the United States, and, finally, his settlement in Palestine in 1921. The memoir appears here translated from its original Hebrew, edited and annotated by Frieden's grandson, the historian Lee Shai Weissbach. Frieden's story provides a window onto Jewish life in an era that saw the encroachment of modern ideas into a traditional society, great streams of migration, and the project of Jewish nation building in Palestine. The memoir follows Frieden's student life in the yeshivas of Eastern Europe, the practices of peddlers in the American South, and the complexities of British policy in Palestine between the two World Wars. This first-hand account calls attention to some often ignored aspects of the modern Jewish experience and provides invaluable insight into the history of the time.
A Jewish Mother in Shangri-la
by Rosie RosenzweigAn old joke tells of a Jewish woman who treks to the Himalayas to seek an audience with a guru sitting in seclusion on a mountaintop. When at last she comes before him, she implores: "Sheldon, come home!" Rosie Rosenzweig became that Jewish mother--but in real life, the story has a different ending. Instead of asking her Buddhist son, Ben, to come home, Rosie accepts his invitation to find out about Buddhism firsthand. Together they visit retreat centers in Europe and Asia and meet leading meditation masters who are Ben's gurus: Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh and Tibetan lamas Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. While struggling to come to terms with Ben's choice of a spiritual path so different from everything that she cherishes, Rosie finds that she is learning more about herself than she anticipated. The adventures of Rosie recounts take her from her Boston suburb to a Zen hermitage in France, an enclave of Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal, and finally to her own spiritual home in Jerusalem. Whether she is practicing mindfulness meditation, sharing a cup of tea with a Zen master, or worrying about bowing down to idols, Rosie is intent in her quest to find common ground between two ancient traditions, to deepen her understanding of her son, and to find a way to her own authentic experience of truth. Hers is a mission of peace that seeks to build a bridge of understanding between cultures and faiths while remaining true to her own Jewish identity.
A Jewish Voice from Ottoman Salonica
by Aron Rodrigue Sarah Abrevaya SteinThis book presents for the first time the complete text of the earliest known Ladino-language memoir, transliterated from the original script, translated into English, and introduced and explicated by the editors. The memoirist, Sa'adi Besalel a-Levi (1820–1903), wrote about Ottoman Jews' daily life at a time when the long-ascendant fabric of Ottoman society was just beginning to unravel. His vivid portrayal of life in Salonica, a major port in the Ottoman Levant with a majority-Jewish population, thus provides a unique window into a way of life before it disappeared as a result of profound political and social changes and the World Wars. Sa'adi was himself a prominent journalist and publisher, one of the most significant creators of modern Sephardic print culture. He was also a rebel, accusing the Jewish leadership of Salonica of being corrupt, abusive, and fanatical; that leadership, in turn, excommunicated him from the Jewish community. The experience of excommunication pervades Sa'adi's memoir, which documents a world that its author was himself actively involved in changing.
A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor
by Dana CanedyIn 2005, First Sergeant Charles Monroe King began to write what would become a 200-page journal for his son in case he did not make it home from Iraq. King, forty-eight, was killed on 14 October 2006. His son, Jordan, was six months old, and they had spent only two weeks together. A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN is a father's letter to the son he will never see again. In it he gives his boy advice on everything from how to withstand disappointment to how to behave on a date, and his very personal and wrenching accounts of losing men in battle. It is also a mother's search for answers. Why did King volunteer for the mission that killed him? Why was it such a struggle to accept this man she deeply loved as he was Optioned for film by Denzel Washington and Columbia Pictures, A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN is a tender introduction, a loving good-bye, a reporter's inquiry into her soldier's life and a heartrending reminder of the human cost of war.
A Journal of the Campaign in Portugal and Spain
by Major-General Henry MackinnonThis ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of reflowing text for an ebook reader. The body of Major-General Mackinnon now lies in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, next to his brother officer Major-General Robert Craufurd, both casualties of the assault on Cuidad Rodrigo during the Peninsular War. Mackinnon left behind his private journal filled with the details of the scenery, manners, customs and people of both Spain and Portugal as he found them during the Peninsular War, right up until his death. The journal was only intended for perusal by his closest family, but bears closer examination by those interested in the Peninsular War. Title - A Journal of the Campaign in Portugal and Spain Sub-Title - Containing Remarks on the Inhabitants, Customs, Trade and Cultivation, of those Countries, From the Year 1809 to 1812. Author -- Major-General Henry Mackinnon (????-1812) Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1907, London, by Longmans and Green. Original - iii and 102 pages.
A Journal of the Russian Campaign of 1812.
by Pickle Partners Publishing Général Raymond-Aymerie-Philippe-Joseph, Duc de Montesquiou-Fézensac General Sir William Thomas KnollysThis ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of reflowing text for an ebook reader. An acclaimed classic of the many memoirs to have survived from the epic, tragic and disastrous Russian Campaign of 1812. This translation is taken from chapters of Fézensac's larger memoir - Souvenirs Militaires de 1804 a 1815 par le duc de Fezensac, Paris, 1863. The author starts the campaign as an aide-de-camp attached to the General Staff, and is slightly more insulated to the horrors of the march to Moscow, although glimpses of the hardships reach even the higher reaches of command. Later, after the fire and sack of Moscow, he takes command of regiment of infantry and it is then that the truly epic struggles the men undertook against their principal nature on the retreat from Moscow. His regiment forms part of Maréchal Ney's dwindling, over-worked, staving rearguard, and is witness to its trials and Homeric travails including the crossings of the Dneiper and Berezina. This edition is introduced by a withy summation of the campaign by General Knollys, who without impinging on the narrative, gives a good overall account of the campaign leaving the details of Fézensac's experiences to be brought out in his own words. Raymond-Aymerie-Philippe-Joseph de Montesquiou-Fézensac, born in Paris in 1784 into an ancient noble family, a cadet branch of the House of Gascony, he volunteered as a private soldier in 1803. He achieved rapid promotion in the campaigns of 1805 and 1806, and later serving as Maréchal Ney's aide-de-camp. His promotion would not have been hampered by his marriage to Mademoiselle Clarke, daughter of the Minister of War, General Clarke who held this post the majority of the Empire, also played a pivotal role in the fall of Paris and Napoleon's abdication in 1814. Created a baron of the empire by Napoleon, he had been promoted to the rank of chef d'escadron by the time of the 1812 Russian campaign. He was promoted to général de brigade in 1813 during the German campaign of 1813 but did not rally to Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was elevated to the title of comte in 1817 and duc in 1821. The text is taken from the edition published in 1852 by Parker, Furnivall, and Parker, London Author: Raymond-Aymerie-Philippe-Joseph de Montesquiou-Fézensac 1784-1867 Translator and Introduction: General Sir William Thomas Knollys 1797-1883
A Journey Around Our America: A Memoir on Cycling, Immigration, and the Latinoization of the U.S.
by Louis G. MendozaImmigration and the growing Latino population of the United States have become such contentious issues that it can be hard to have a civil conversation about how Latinoization is changing the face of America. So in the summer of 2007, Louis Mendoza set out to do just that. Starting from Santa Cruz, California, he bicycled 8,500 miles around the entire perimeter of the country, talking to people in large cities and small towns about their experiences either as immigrants or as residents who have welcomed - or not - Latino immigrants into their communities. He presented their enlightening, sometimes surprising, firsthand accounts in Conversations Across Our America: Talking About Immigration and the Latinoization of the United States. Now, in A Journey Around Our America, Mendoza offers his own account of the visceral, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual dimensions of traveling the country in search of a deeper, broader understanding of what it means to be Latino in the United States in the twenty-first century. With a blend of first- and second-person narratives, blog entries, poetry, and excerpts from conversations he had along the way, Mendoza presents his own aspirations for and critique of social relations, political ruminations, personal experiences, and emotional vulnerability alongside the stories of people from all walks of life, including students, activists, manual laborers, and intellectuals. His conversations and his experiences as a Latino on the road reveal the multilayered complexity of Latino life today as no academic study or newspaper report ever could.
A Journey Into Flaubert's Normandy
by Susannah PattonRichly illustrated with maps, historical and contemporary photographs, and period artwork, this guidebook takes tourists and armchair travelers on a stimulating journey through the small towns, rolling hills, and windswept coast of Flaubert's Normandy. The novelist's homes and the locations that are prominently featured in his controversial works are the focus of this pictorial travel guide, and include the ancient town of Rouen, where Flaubert was born in 1821; the resort town of Trouville and its frequently painted beach; Croisset, where Flaubert's riverside house gave him the refuge to write; and the quiet country town of Ry, which claims to be where the real Madame Bovary lived and died.
A Journey Into Matisse's South of France
by Laura McpheeFor more than 50 years the passionate pursuit of color led Henri Matisse to visit some of the most enchanting villages in southern France. Travelers and art lovers will delight in this mix of art, history, biography, and travel guide that covers southern France and explores the teal skies, emerald hills, red soil, and indigo seas beloved by the artist. The journey begins in Paris and then moves to the fashionable port of St. Tropez, the fishing village of Collioure, chic and voluptuous Nice, and the rustic refuge of Vence, and ends in the luxurious resort of Cimiez. The author identifies the villas and studios where Matisse lived and worked in each location and discusses how his art responded to the palette and ambience of each local landscape.
A Journey Through Life and History: An Autobiographical Sketch
by Radomysl Twardowski&“...an evocative autobiographical exploration of personal growth, resilience, and cultural identity…a compelling read for those interested in autobiographical tales that blend historical context with personal reflection.&” – Readers FavoriteRadomysl Twardowski's moving story of growing up in post-war Poland begins with early memories of walks around Krakow with his beloved Grandfather Karol. As it becomes clear to the young Rado that Poland's history is rooted in Christianity, the solemn grandeur and religious atmosphere of places like Wawel Cathedral and other churches begin to have a profound impact on him. He would later be drawn to SSPX and Latin Mass, a subject of debate in the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. After the rise of Solidarity in 1980 and the declaration of martial law in 1981, Rado leaves Poland for the US, where he graduates from medical school and practices cardiology for several years, eventually becoming a proponent for fitness and wellness. Woven throughout this gripping memoir set against the backdrop of dramatic political, religious, and newsworthy developments are the author's stories of hardship and triumph over adversity-from a skiing injury at age twelve that left him with physical limitations to the dissolution of his marriage and a difficult separation from his children. Throughout this memorable journey through history, Twardowski offers us a deeply personal life story of exploration, loss, redemption, and survival.
A Journey Through the Cycling Year
by The Cycling PodcastReaders as well as listeners can now embark on a journey through the cycling year with The Cycling Podcast, which has been entertaining and informing fans since 2013. Richard Moore, Lionel Birnie and Daniel Friebe share their diaries from three incident-filled Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a España. These take readers behind the scenes and explore the culture and landscape as well as the racing, while the ‘Lionel of Flanders’, complete with beer recommendations, does the same for the Classics in Belgium.There are appearances, too, by leading journalists and podcast favourites François Thomazeau, who takes responsiblity for the French Tour de France jinx, Ciro Scognamiglio, with a heartfelt love letter to cult favourite Filippo Pozzato, Fran Reyes, who pens a farewell to El Pistolero, Alberto Contador, and Orla Chennaoui, who hits the road to cover La Course in a one-woman karaoke-booth-on-wheels.Further contributions from professional riders Ashleigh Moolman Pasio and Joe Dombrowski and the voice of the Tour de France, Sebastien Piquet, as well as stunning galleries from the podcast world’s first and only dedicated photographer, Simon Gill, make this the perfect celebration of a year in cycling.
A Journey for Peace: Episodes of Life from an Early Peace Corps Volunteer
by Donald YatesDon Yates enrolled as a Peace Corps Volunteer after responding to the challenge then-President John F. Kennedy issued to young Americans to &‘ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.&’ From compiling over 500 pages of a diary kept while he worked as an educator and community developer in the Philippine Islands on the southern island of Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago, he gleaned over 25 stories, or episodes, depicting highlights of his life there along with reflections of local culture. Many episodes, such as the prologue entitled Culture Shock, depict a young man&’s orientation and involvement in a way of life very different from his upbringing as an American. Complete with photographs from his two-year tour of duty, Don has captured the essence of an area of the world rarely seen or visited by outsiders while sharing how he grew as a young man in a foreign land.
A Journey: My Political Life
by Tony BlairTony Blair is a politician who defines our times. His emergence as Labour Party leader in 1994 marked a seismic shift in British politics. Within a few short years, he had transformed his party and rallied the country behind him, becoming prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labour's history, and bringing to an end eighteen years of Conservative government. He took Labour to a historic three terms in office as Britain's dominant political figure of the last two decades.A Journey is Tony Blair's firsthand account of his years in office and beyond. Here he describes for the first time his role in shaping our recent history, from the aftermath of Princess Diana's death to the war on terror. He reveals the leadership decisions that were necessary to reinvent his party, the relationships with colleagues including Gordon Brown, the grueling negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland, the implementation of the biggest reforms to public services in Britain since 1945, and his relationships with leaders on the world stage--Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, George W. Bush. He analyzes the belief in ethical intervention that led to his decisions to go to war in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and, most controversially of all, in Iraq. A Journey is a book about the nature and uses of political power. In frank, unflinching, often wry detail, Tony Blair charts the ups and downs of his career to provide insight into the man as well as the politician and statesman. He explores the challenges of leadership, and the ramifications of standing up, clearly and forcefully, for what one believes in. He also looks ahead, to emerging power relationships and economies, addressing the vital issues and complexities of our global world.Few British prime ministers have shaped the nation's course as profoundly as Tony Blair, and his achievements and his legacy will be debated for years to come. Here, uniquely, we have his own journey, in his own words.From the Hardcover edition.
A Journey: The Autobiography of Apolo Anton Ohno
by Nancy Ann Richardson Apolo Anton OhnoI honestly don't know what battles I'm going to face next, only that I have the spirit and the will to face anything and fight for my sport and for what I believe is right. I'll give 110 percent and still dig down deeper for more. Apolo Anton Ohno won both a gold and a silver medal at the 2002 Olympic Games and became an instant hero. But his Olympic victory represents just one moment of his incredible, and continuing journey.From an early age, his father, Yuki, recognized Apolo's natural abilities and made it his mission to help his son live up to his potential. But getting Apolo to follow through on his opportunities wasn't always easy. Like many kids, Apolo struggled to balance his energetic and fiercely competitive nature with his desire for independence and freedom. And even as he succeeded on the ice, he felt the loneliness that comes with being at the top. Amid the pain, the fear, the uncertainty, Apolo asked himself again and again, Why am I doing this? And the answer came to him: He truly loved to skate. So with laser-sharp focus he pursued his number-one goal: to become a great athlete.From his personal struggles to his unwavering commitment and ambition, Apolo Anton Ohno is a true example of courage. He has battled his personal demons, toppled physical barriers, and clawed his way to the top -- but even now he does not rest. Always, he looks within himself to hear his strongest critic, to face his fiercest competitor. And always, he continues to strive to be the best -- not just for his team, not just for his country -- but also for himself. And that is what makes Apolo Anton Ohno a true champion. This is his story.
A Joyful Noise: Claiming the Songs of My Fathers
by Deborah WeisgallIn A Joyful Noise, Deborah Weisgall tells a moving story of her turbulent coming-of-age in the shadow of two remarkable men who lived life as if they were characters in an opera. The daughter of a mercurial composer and the granddaughter of a legendary cantor, Deborah as a child longed to be entrusted with their precious music and carry it on herself. But it was impossible; she was a girl. A Joyful Noise recounts Deborah's search for a place within the family tradition and, finally, her triumphant discovery of a way to make the men who would exclude her — who were also the men she loved — listen to her voice. A Joyful Noise is a tender, heartbreaking, beautifully written chronicle of the power of memory, the survival of faith, and the pursuit of a grand musical heritage. "A superbly written chronicle encompassing the grand themes of the power of memory and the survival of faith." — The Jewish Transcript; "Weisgall has written a valuable book." — The New York Times Book Review; "This is a lovely memoir of life in the acutely functional family of a fine and learned composer. Deborah Weisgall writes of a milieu of discourse immersed in and emerging from music, and in which love and knowledge are not at odds. . . . A Joyful Noise is that of her own particular music of remembering." — John Hollander; "An absorbing memoir, with music in the background and foreground." — New York Jewish Week.
A Joyful Pilgrimage: My Life in Community
by Emmy ArnoldBack Cover: "In the tumultuous aftermath of the First World War, thousands of young Germans defied the social mores of their parents--and the constricting influence of the established churches--in search of freedom, social equality, nature, and community. Hiking clubs were formed and work camps organized, and hundreds of rural folk schools and communes sprang up across the country. In the 1930s, Nazism swallowed this so-called Youth Movement virtually whole. A Joyful Pilgrimage is the engaging story of a remnant that survived: the Bruderhof, a 75-year-old community that began when the author and her husband, a well-known writer and lecturer, abandoned their affluent Berlin suburb to start a new life and "venture of faith." At first glance a memoir, A Joyful Pilgrimage is a radical call to faith and commitment against great odds. It is also a remarkable testimony to the leading of the Spirit, which, as Emmy Arnold writes, can hold together those who believe in the 'daily miracle' of community 'through thick and thin.'" [It is a] "moving story... and an amazing continuation of the Book of Acts."
A Joyfully Serious Man: The Life of Robert Bellah
by Matteo BortoliniThe brilliant but turbulent life of a public intellectual who transformed the social sciencesRobert Bellah (1927–2013) was one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century. Trained as a sociologist, he crossed disciplinary boundaries in pursuit of a greater comprehension of religion as both a cultural phenomenon and a way to fathom the depths of the human condition. A Joyfully Serious Man is the definitive biography of this towering figure in modern intellectual life, and a revelatory portrait of a man who led an adventurous yet turbulent life.Drawing on Bellah's personal papers as well as in-depth interviews with those who knew him, Matteo Bortolini tells the story of an extraordinary scholarly career and an eventful and tempestuous life. He describes Bellah's exile from the United States during the hysteria of the McCarthy years, his crushing personal tragedies, and his experiments with sexuality. Bellah understood religion as a mysterious human institution that brings together the scattered pieces of individual and collective experiences. Bortolini shows how Bellah championed intellectual openness and innovation through his relentless opposition to any notion of secularization as a decline of religion and his ideas about the enduring tensions between individualism and community in American society.Based on nearly two decades of research, A Joyfully Serious Man is a revelatory chronicle of a leading public intellectual who was both a transformative thinker and a restless, passionate seeker.
A Judge in Auschwitz: Konrad Morgen's Crusade Against SS Corruption & 'Illegal' Murder
by Kevin PrengerIn autumn 1943, SS judge Konrad Morgen visited Auschwitz concentration camp to investigate an intercepted parcel containing gold sent from the camp. While there Morgen found the SS camp guards engaged in widespread theft and corruption. Worse, Morgen also discovered that inmates were being killed without authority from the SS leadership. While millions of Jews were being exterminated under the Final Solution programme , Konrad Morgen set about gathering evidence of these ‘illegal murders’. Morgen also visited other camps such as Buchenwald where he had the notorious camp commandant Karl Koch and Ilse, his sadistic spouse, arrested and charged. Found guilty by an SS court, Koch was sentenced to death. Remarkably, the apparently fearless SS judge also tried to prosecute other Nazi criminals including Waffen-SS commanders Oskar Dirlewanger and Hermann Fegelein and Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss. He even claimed to have tried to indict Adolf Eichmann, who was responsible for organising the mass deportation of the Jews to the extermination camps. This intriguing work reveals how the lines between justice and injustice became blurred in the Third Reich. As well as describing the actions of this often contradictory character the author questions Morgen’s motives.
A Just and Generous Nation: Abraham Lincoln and the Fight for American Opportunity
by Harold Holzer Norton GarfinkleIn A Just and Generous Nation, the eminent historian Harold Holzer and the noted economist Norton Garfinkle present a groundbreaking new account of the beliefs that inspired our sixteenth president to go to war when the Southern states seceded from the Union. Rather than a commitment to eradicating slavery or a defense of the Union, they argue, Lincoln’s guiding principle was the defense of equal economic opportunity. Lincoln firmly believed that the government’s primary role was to ensure that all Americans had the opportunity to better their station in life. As president, he worked tirelessly to enshrine this ideal within the federal government. He funded railroads and canals, supported education, and, most importantly, issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which opened the door for former slaves to join white Americans in striving for self-improvement. In our own age of unprecedented inequality, A Just and Generous Nation reestablishes Lincoln’s legacy as the protector not just of personal freedom but of the American dream itself.
A Keen Soldier: The Execution of Second World War Private Harold Pringle
by Andrew ClarkWhen award-winning journalist Andrew Clark found the file on Harold Joseph Pringle, he uncovered a Canadian tragedy that had lain buried for fifty years. This extraordinary story of the last soldier to be executed by the Canadian military -- likely wrongfully -- gives life to the forgotten casualties of war and brings their honour home at last. Harold Pringle was underage when the Second World War broke out, eager to leave quiet Flinton, Ontario, to serve by his father’s side. But few who volunteered to fight “the good fight” realized what horror lay ahead; soon Pringle found himself in Italy, fighting on the bloody “Hitler Line,” where two-thirds of his company were killed. Shell-shocked, he embarked on a tragic, final course that culminated in a suspect murder conviction. His appeal was reviewed by the highest levels of government, right up to prime minister King. But Private Pringle was put to death -- the only soldier the Canadians executed in the whole of the Second World War. His own countrymen carried out the orders, forbidden to go home before completing this last grotesque assignment, even though the war had ended. The Pringle file was closed and stayed that way for fifty years -- until Andrew Clark uncovered it and began a two-year investigation on Pringle’s life in the army. A Keen Soldieris a true-life military detective story that shows another side of what many consider our proudest military campaign. Andrew Clark examines the fallout of a crisis that disfigured our national conscience and continues to raise questions about the ethics of war. And he does so with eloquence and a deep compassion, not only for his subject but for all wartime soldiers -- even the men who executed Pringle and the officer who gave the order to fire. From the Hardcover edition.
A Keeper of Bees: Notes on Hive and Home
by Allison WallaceI was hooked. Call it adrenaline surge, call it honeybee venom in my veins-whatever the explanation, henceforth I would need these funky little critters in my life. Givers of sweet, thick honey, bringers forth of the fruits from trees and bushes and who knew what else, they also gave more food for thought than a body could know what to do with. -fromA Keeper of Bees Allison Wallace's devotion to honeybees and their amazing, intensely lived lives started years ago, when she was living in a cabin in the North Carolina woods. Ever since then, wherever she has called home, Wallace has kept company with bees. Now she gives us the honeybee in all its glory, dancing "the great, never fully knowable ecological dance," striving like other creatures and plants to be all it can be in its short life. With a philosopher's perception and a scientist's knowledge, Wallace interweaves the facts of honeybee biology with reflections on desire, intimacy, work, evolution, memory, and home. She shares the thrill of intimately observing thousands of busy bees cozily ensconced in their brilliantly designed, perfectly weatherproofed hive. She muses on the female workers' unceasing activity, and on the male drones' idleness as each awaits his acrobatic midair mating with the queen, followed by his instant death. She marvels at the cosseted queen, upon whom the future of the hive depends. From the Hardcover edition.