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John Woo's A Better Tomorrow
by Karen Fang'A Better Tomorrow' has always been hailed as a milestone in Hong Kong cinema. This book describes the different responses to the movie in Hong Kong and later in its reception worldwide, which paved the way for the promotion of John Woo and Chow Yun-fat to their current prominence in Hollywood. Fang examines the different notions of the genre of action cinema in Asian and Western film industries. She tracks the connections between ying shung pian, or "hero" movie, the term by which Woo's film became famous in Hong Kong, and the spectacle of violence emphasized in the term "heroic bloodshed," the category in which the film was known in the West. Finally, she concludes with a discussion of the status of the film and its huge success in the current globalized industry.
John Woo's The Killer
by Kenneth E. HallA classic tale of loyalty and bloody betrayal, John Woo's 'The Killer' (1989) was centrally important to the growth of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s. It helped launch the international stardom of Woo and lead actor Chow Yun-fat, who plays a disllusioned hitman taking his fatal final assignment to help a lounge singer he accidentally blinded. Illustrating the film's place in the chivalric tradition of Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, where cops and noble villains sometimes join forces in defense of traditional virtues and personal honor, Kenneth Hall documents the strong influence of Woo's mentor Chang Cheh as well as Jean-Pierre Melville and other film noir pioneers. Hall also analyzes the film's influence on other directors, including Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.
John Woolman's Path to the Peaceable Kingdom
by Geoffrey PlankThe abolitionist John Woolman (1720-72) has been described as a "Quaker saint," an isolated mystic, singular even among a singular people. But as historian Geoffrey Plank recounts, this tailor, hog producer, shopkeeper, schoolteacher, and prominent Quaker minister was very much enmeshed in his local community in colonial New Jersey and was alert as well to events throughout the British Empire. Responding to the situation as he saw it, Woolman developed a comprehensive critique of his fellow Quakers and of the imperial economy, became one of the most emphatic opponents of slaveholding, and helped develop a new form of protest by striving never to spend money in ways that might encourage slavery or other forms of iniquity.Drawing on the diaries of contemporaries, personal correspondence, the minutes of Quaker meetings, business and probate records, pamphlets, and other sources, John Woolman's Path to the Peaceable Kingdom shows that Woolman and his neighbors were far more engaged with the problems of inequality, trade, and warfare than anyone would know just from reading the Quaker's own writings. Although he is famous as an abolitionist, the end of slavery was only part of Woolman's project. Refusing to believe that the pursuit of self-interest could safely guide economic life, Woolman aimed for a miraculous global transformation: a universal disavowal of greed.
John and Betty Stam: Missionary Martyrs
by Vance ChristiePart of the Heroes of The Faith series, this is the biography of John and Betty Stam martyred in China in 1934.
John and the Gunpowder Plot: Independent Reading White 10 (Reading Champion #517)
by Sarah SnashallThis story is part of Reading Champion, a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills, developed with Dr Sue Bodman and Glen Franklin of UCL Institute of Education (IOE) Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure. Perfect for 7-9-year-olds or those reading book band white.King James I is coming to open Parliament. But there is a problem - someone is trying to kill the king. John owns a cellar beneath Parliament, and he decides to check inside it before the king's visit ...
John le Carré: The Biography
by Adam SismanJohn le Carré is still at the top more than half a century after The Spy Who Came in from the Cold became a worldwide bestseller. Written with exclusive access to le Carré, his personal archives, and many of the people closest to him, Adam Sisman's definitive biography is a highly readable, fascinating portrait of the life, times and espionage career that inspired a literary master. Always secretive about his background and Secret Service career (blocking one biography from publication in the 1990s, then choosing a biographer who abandoned the project), John le Carré (David Cornwell) has finally given his blessing to Adam Sisman, who has delivered a biography that reads like a novel. From his bleak childhood--the departure of his mother when he was five was followed by "sixteen hugless years" in the dubious care of his father, a serial-seducer and con-man--through recruitment by both MI5 and MI6, his years as an agent for British Intelligence during the Cold War, to his emergence as the master of the espionage novel, le Carré has repeatedly quarried his life for his fiction. His acute psychological renderings of undercover operations and the moral ambiguities of the Cold War and our present-day politics lend his novels a level of credibility that is unmistakable. Sisman's great biography uncovers for us the remarkable story of an enigmatic writer whose commercial success has sometimes overshadowed appreciation for his extraordinary abilities.
John le Carré: The Biography
by Adam SismanThe definitive biography of the renowned spy novelist—a “highly readable portrait of a writer . . . as elusive and enigmatic as his fictional heroes” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times).In this authorized biography, Adam Sisman reveals the man behind John le Carré’s bestselling persona. Looking behind the pseudonym, Sisman shines a spotlight on David Cornwell, an expert at hiding in plain sight—“born to lying,” he wrote in 2002, “bred to it, trained to it by an industry that lies for a living, practiced in it as a novelist.”Sisman probes Cornwell’s unusual upbringing, abandoned by his mother at the age of only five and raised by his con man father (when not in prison). He explores Cornwell’s background in British intelligence, as well as his personal life and struggle to become a writer. Sisman has benefited from unfettered access to le Carré’s private archive, talked to the most important people in his life, and interviewed the man himself at length.Who is John le Carré? Intriguing, thorough, and packed with entertaining detail, this biography is essential reading for fans of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Nigh Manager, and his many other internationally acclaimed novels.
John of History, Baptist of Faith: The Quest for the Historical Baptizer
by James F. McGrathStudies of the historical Jesus typically reduce John the Baptist to a subordinate role in the story of Christian origins. This meticulous historical study focuses on John himself, revealing his extensive and enduring influence. In the popular imagination, John the Baptist plays the supporting role of Jesus&’s unkempt forerunner. But meticulous historical study reveals his wide-reaching and enduring influence on the history of religion. The first study of its kind, John of History, Baptist of Faith sheds light on the historical John the Baptist and his world. James F. McGrath applies historical-critical methodology not only to the New Testament but also to the Mandaean Book of John, a holy text of the last extant gnostic sect. McGrath uses the teachings of John&’s pupil, Jesus, as a window into his mentor&’s beliefs. Along the way, he brings new clarity to questions of contention among scholars, such as John&’s use of immersion as a substitute for temple sacrifice. Bold in its claims yet careful in its method, John of History, Baptist of Faith lends fresh insight into John, Jesus, and their world. McGrath&’s pioneering monograph will challenge and intrigue students and scholars of the New Testament and Second Temple Judaism.
John the Baptizer: A Novel
by Brooks HansenA vivid, moving, and unprecedented biographical saga of John the Baptist. Traditionally, John the Baptist is seen as little more than an opening act—“the voice crying in the wilderness”—in the great Christian drama. In presenting the epic of John’s life, novelist Brooks Hansen draws on an extraordinary array of inspirations, from the works of Caravaggio, Bach, and Oscar Wilde to the histories of Josephus, the canonical gospels, the Gnostic gospels, and the sacred texts of those followers of John who never accepted Jesus as Messiah: the Mandeans.Gripping as literary historical fiction, and fascinating as a diligent exploration of ancient and modern sources, this book brings to eye-opening life the richly textured world—populated by the magnificently sordid, calculating, and reckless Herods, their families, and their courts—into which both John and Jesus were born. John the Baptizer is a captivating tapestry of power and dissent, ambition and self-sacrifice, worldly and otherworldly desire, faith, and doubt.
John: An Evil King? (Penguin Monarchs)
by Nicholas VincentKing John ruled England for seventeen and a half years, yet his entire reign is usually reduced to one image: of the villainous monarch outmanoeuvred by rebellious barons into agreeing to Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. Ever since, John has come to be seen as an archetypal tyrant. But how evil was he? In this perceptive short account, Nicholas Vincent unpicks John's life through his deeds and his personality. The youngest of four brothers, overlooked and given a distinctly unroyal name, John seemed doomed to failure. As king, he was reputedly cruel and treacherous, pursuing his own interests at the expense of his country, losing the continental empire bequeathed to him by his father Henry and his brother Richard and eventually plunging England into civil war. Only his lordship of Ireland showed some success. Yet, as this fascinating biography asks, were his crimes necessarily greater than those of his ancestors - or was he judged more harshly because, ultimately, he failed as a warlord?
Johnnie Johnson's 1942 Diary: The War Diary of the Spitfire Ace of Aces
by Dilip SarkarA unique insight into how fighter pilots lived, loved—and died—through the diary of the top-scoring RAF Ace who survived the Battle of Britain. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Air Vice-Marshal &“Johnnie&” Johnson&’s aerial combat successes of World War II inspired schoolboys for generations. As a &“lowly Pilot Officer,&” Johnson learned his fighter pilot&’s craft as a protégé of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron. By the beginning of 1942, when Johnnie&’s diary begins, Fighter Command was pursuing an offensive policy during daylight hours, &“reaching out&” and taking the war to the Germans in France. It was also a period in which the Focke-Wulf Fw outclassed the Spitfire Mk.V. In Johnnie&’s words, the Fw 190 &“drove us back to the coast and, for the first time, pilots lost confidence in the Spitfire.&” As well as his participation in Rhubarb and Circus sorties, Johnnie was also involved in Operation Jubilee on 19 August 1942. In this diary, published here for the first time, we get a glimpse of the real Johnnie, and what it was really like to live and breathe air-fighting during one of the European air war&’s most interesting years: 1942. Presented on a day-by-day basis, each of Johnnie&’s entries is supported by an informative narrative written by the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar, drawing upon official documents and his interviews and correspondence with the great man. &“Provides a number of insights into life in the RAF Fighter Command of that period.—Most Highly Recommended.&” —Firetrench
Johnnie Johnson's Great Adventure: The Spitfire Ace of Ace's Last Look Back
by Dilip SarkarThe World War II fighter Ace&’s previously unpublished draft—an account of the &“Long Trek&” from Normandy into the heart of the Third Reich itself. Having published two of his own books, Wing Leader and The Circle of Air Fighting, Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson co-authored several more with another fighter ace, namely Wing Commander P.B. &“Laddie&” Lucas. In 1997, the &“AVM&” suggested to his friend, the prolific author Dilip Sarkar, that the pair should collaborate on The Great Adventure. &“Greycap Leader&” was to produce a draft, after which Dilip would add the historical detail and comment. Sadly, the project was unfulfilled, because Johnnie became ill and passed away, aged eighty-five, in 2001. Years later, Johnnie&’s eldest son, Chris, discovered the manuscript among his august father&’s papers. In order to keep Johnnie&’s memory evergreen, Chris turned to Dilip to finally see the project through to its conclusion. In this book Johnnie revisits certain aspects of his wartime service, including the development of tactical air cooperation with ground forces; his time as a Canadian wing leader in 1943, when the Spitfire Mk IX at last outclassed the Fw 190; and details his involvement in some of the most important battles of the defeat of Nazi Germany, including Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings in 1944, Operation Market Garden and the airborne assault at Arnhem, and the Rhine Crossings, throughout all of which Johnnie also commanded Canadian wings. Johnnie Johnson&’s Great Adventure &“brings to life the man of the book in such an interesting and heroic manner . . . if it wasn&’t for these brave heroes we might not have won the war&” (UK Historian).
Johnny Appleseed
by Howard MeansThis portrait of Johnny Appleseed restores the flesh-and-blood man beneath the many myths. It captures the boldness of an iconic American life and the sadness of his last years, as the frontier marched past him, ever westward. And it shows how death liberated the legend and made of Johnny a barometer of the nation's feelings about its own heroic past and the supposed Eden it once had been. It is a book that does for America's inner frontier what Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage did for its western one. No American folk hero--not Davy Crockett, not even Daniel Boone--is better known than Johnny Appleseed, and none has become more trapped in his own legends. The fact is, John Chapman--the historical Johnny Appleseed--might well be the best-known figure from our national past about whom most people know almost nothing real at all. One early historian called Chapman "the oddest character in all our history," and not without cause. Chapman was an animal whisperer, a vegetarian in a raw country where it was far easier to kill game than grow a crop, a pacifist in a place ruled by gun, knife, and fist. Some settlers considered Chapman a New World saint. Others thought he had been kicked in the head by a horse. And yet he was welcomed almost everywhere, and stories about him floated from cabin to cabin, village to village, just as he did. As eccentric as he was, John Chapman was also very much a man of his times: a land speculator and pioneer nurseryman with an uncanny sense for where settlement was moving next, and an evangelist for the Church of the New Jerusalem on a frontier alive with religious fervor. His story is equally America's story at the birth of the nation. In this tale of the wilderness and its taming, author Howard Means explores how our national past gets mythologized and hired out. Mostly, though, this is the story of two men, one real and one invented; of the times they lived through, the ties that link them, and the gulf that separates them; of the uses to which both have been put; and of what that tells us about ourselves, then and now.
Johnny Appleseed
by Jane Kurtz Mary HaverfieldWho's that walking along the Ohio? It's Johnny Appleseed! He walks across the land, planting trees wherever he goes. So, everyone, clap your hands for Johnny Appleseed!
Johnny Appleseed (Penguin Young Readers, Level 3)
by Patricia Brennan DemuthWith a bag of seeds and a pot on his head, John Chapman set out West to plant apple trees. He made lots of friends and planted lots of trees. Pretty soon, people started to call him Johnny Appleseed.
Johnny Appleseed (Rookie Biographies)
by Christin DitchfieldPresents a brief biography of John Chapman, the man who planted Thousands of apple seeds in the early nineteenth century.
Johnny Appleseed: An American Tall Tale
by Karen Leon Jeffrey Fuerst Gregory BrownPerform this American tall tale about Johnny Appleseed.
Johnny Appleseed: The Story of a Legend
by Will MosesJohnny Appleseed was a legend even in his own time-stories abounded about the kindhearted woodsman who planted thousands of apple seeds from Pennsylvania to Indiana. The real Johnny Appleseed was born John Chapman in a small village in Massachusetts. When he was a young man, he set off for the western frontier and along the way collected bags of apple seeds from cider mills. As John Chapman's apple orchards grew in number, so did the tales of Johnny Appleseed. In this wise and witty story, Will Moses relates the life of a great American folk hero who helped open and tame the wild frontier.
Johnny Carson
by Henry BushkinFrom 1962 until 1992, Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show and permeated the American consciousness. In the ’70s and ’80s he was the country’s highest-paid entertainer and its most enigmatic. He was notoriously inscrutable, as mercurial (and sometimes cruel) off-camera as he was charming and hilarious onstage. During the apex of his reign, Carson’s longtime lawyer and best friend was Henry Bushkin, who now shows us Johnny Carson with a breathtaking clarity and depth that nobody else could. From the moment in 1970 when Carson hired Bushkin (who was just twenty-seven) until the moment eighteen years later when they parted ways, the author witnessed and often took part in a string of escapades that still retain their power to surprise and fascinate us. One of Bushkin’s first assignments was helping Carson break into a posh Manhattan apartment to gather evidence of his wife’s infidelity. More than once, Bushkin helped his client avoid entanglements with the mob. Of course, Carson’s adventures weren't all so sordid. He hosted Ronald Reagan’s inaugural concert as a favor to the new president, and he prevented a drunken Dean Martin from appearing onstage that evening. Carson socialized with Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, and dozens of other boldface names who populate this atmospheric and propulsive chronicle of the King of Late Night and his world. But this memoir isn't just dishy. It is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why. Bushkin explains why Carson, a voracious (and very talented) womanizer, felt he always had to be married; why he loathed small talk even as he excelled at it; why he couldn't visit his son in the hospital and wouldn't attend his mother’s funeral; and much more. Bushkin’s account is by turns shocking, poignant, and uproarious — written with a novelist’s eye for detail, a screenwriter’s ear for dialogue, and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish. Johnny Carson unveils not only the hidden Carson, but also the raucous, star-studded world he ruled.
Johnny Carson
by Henry BushkinA revealing and incisive account of the King of Late Night at the height of his fame and power, by his lawyer, wingman, fixer, and closest confidantFrom 1962 until 1992, Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show and permeated the American consciousness. In the '70s and '80s he was the country's highest-paid entertainer and its most enigmatic. He was notoriously inscrutable, as mercurial (and sometimes cruel) off-camera as he was charming and hilarious onstage. During the apex of his reign, Carson's longtime lawyer and best friend was Henry Bushkin, who now shows us Johnny Carson with a breathtaking clarity and depth that nobody else could.From the moment in 1970 when Carson hired Bushkin (who was just twenty-seven) until the moment eighteen years later when they parted ways, the author witnessed and often took part in a string of escapades that still retain their power to surprise and fascinate us. One of Bushkin's first assignments was helping Carson break into a posh Manhattan apartment to gather evidence of his wife's infidelity. More than once, Bushkin helped his client avoid entanglements with the mob. Of course, Carson's adventures weren't all so sordid. He hosted Ronald Reagan's inaugural concert as a favor to the new president, and he prevented a drunken Dean Martin from appearing onstage that evening. Carson socialized with Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Stewart, Kirk Douglas, and dozens of other boldface names who populate this atmospheric and propulsive chronicle of the King of Late Night and his world.But this memoir isn't just dishy. It is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why. Bushkin explains why Carson, a voracious (and very talented) womanizer, felt he always had to be married; why he loathed small talk even as he excelled at it; why he couldn't visit his son in the hospital and wouldn't attend his mother's funeral; and much more. Bushkin's account is by turns shocking, poignant, and uproarious -- written with a novelist's eye for detail, a screenwriter's ear for dialogue, and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish. Johnny Carson unveils not only the hidden Carson, but also the raucous, star-studded world he ruled.
Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth
by John Huss David WertherIn Johnny Cash and Philosophy, twenty-one philosophers explore the implications of the Johnny Cash myth and the Johnny Cash message. Their investigations uncover the distinctive relevance of Johnny Cash for moral responsibility, social justice, patriotism, romantic love, artistic creativity, class oppression, and individual identity.
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Revised and Updated (American Made Music Series)
by Michael StreissguthOn January 13, 1968, Johnny Cash (1932–2003) took the stage at Folsom Prison in California. The concert and the live album, At Folsom Prison, propelled him to worldwide superstardom. He reached new audiences, ignited tremendous growth in the country music industry, and connected with fans in a way no other artist has before or since. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Revised and Updated is a riveting account of that day, what led to it, and what followed. Michael Streissguth skillfully places the album and the concert in the larger context of Cash’s artistic development, the era’s popular music, and California’s prison system, uncovering new angles and exploding a few myths along the way. Scrupulously researched, rich with the author’s unprecedented archival access to Folsom Prison’s and Columbia Records’ archives, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison shows how Cash forever became a champion of the downtrodden, as well as one of the more enduring forces in American music.This revised edition includes new images and updates throughout the volume, including previously unpublished material.
Johnny Cash: The Life
by Robert Hilburn'Johnny Cash ... Every man could relate to him, no man could be him, and only one man could get inside his head - Robert Hilburn' BONOPeople don't just listen to Johnny Cash: they believe in him. But no one has told the Man in Black's full story, until now.In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine. As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash well throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed Cash and his wife June Carter for the final time just months before their deaths in 2003. Hilburn's rich reporting shows the remarkable highs and deep lows that followed and haunted Cash in equal measure. A man of great faith and humbling addiction, Cash aimed for more than another hit for the jukebox; he wanted his music to lift people's spirits.Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture - not only a towering figure in country music, but also a seminal influence in rock, whose personal life was far more troubled, and whose musical and lyrical artistry much more profound, than even his most devoted fans ever realised.
Johnny Cash: The Life
by Robert HilburnPeople don't just listen to Johnny Cash: they believe in him. But no one has told the Man in Black's full story, until now.In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine. As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash well throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed Cash and his wife June Carter for the final time just months before their deaths in 2003. Hilburn's rich reporting shows the remarkable highs and deep lows that followed and haunted Cash in equal measure. A man of great faith and humbling addiction, Cash aimed for more than another hit for the jukebox; he wanted his music to lift people's spirits.Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture - not only a towering figure in country music, but also a seminal influence in rock, whose personal life was far more troubled, and whose musical and lyrical artistry much more profound, than even his most devoted fans ever realised.Read by Charles Pittard(p) 2013 Hachette Audio
Johnny Cash: The Life (Ala Notable Books For Adults Ser.)
by Robert HilburnThe definitive biography of an American legend In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon whose colorful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to the remarkable creative last hurrah, at age sixty-nine, that resulted in the brave, moving "Hurt" video. As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash well throughout his life: he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed Cash and his wife June Carter for the final time just months before their deaths in 2003. Hilburn's rich reporting shows the remarkable highs and deep lows that followed and haunted Cash in equal measure. A man of great faith and humbling addiction, Cash aimed for more than another hit on the jukebox; he wanted to use his music to lift people's spirits and help promote what he felt was the best of the American spirit.Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply human portrait of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture - not only a towering figure in country music, but also a seminal influence in rock, whose personal life was far more troubled, and whose musical and lyrical artistry much more profound, than even his most devoted fans ever realized.