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Our Man in Moscow: A Diplomat's Reflections on the Soviet Union
by Robert Ford"The world is large; Russia is great; death is inevitable." Almost forty years ago Robert A.D. Ford came across this sentence in a Russian school primer. It stays with him today as an example of the Russian psyche, a psyche that Ford is better equipped to explain than most. He is the only Western diplomat to have known and dealt with all the Soviet leaders from the end of the Second World War to the present: Stalin, Krushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev. As a poet and translator of Russian poetry, he also had a special entrée into the Soviet literary world. In this memoir he offers a unique perspective on post-war Soviet politics and Russian life.
Our Man in Panama: The Shrewd Rise and Brutal Fall of Manuel Noriega
by John DingesA &“carefully researched&” account of the rise and fall of notorious dictator Manuel Noriega—and America&’s role in both (The Washington Post). Written by a prize-winning NPR veteran who spent years covering Latin America, this blend of biography, history, and political reporting details the events that lead to the American invasion of Panama. &“Describes in considerable detail the fascinating and appalling relationship between Noriega and the U.S. government. Much of this material was derived from previously classified documents, supplemented by Congressional hearings and interviews. [John] Dinges has taken great care to verify his sources; hearsay, gossip, and questionable testimony is not presented here . . . Highly recommended.&” —Library Journal &“Most of the action takes place in Panama, of course, but it is still very much a Washington story. Few of the characters, from President Bush on down, emerge with dignity intact.&” —The New York Times &“One of the best analyses of American foreign policy failures in Panama.&” —The New Republic A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Our Man in Tehran: The Truth Behind the Secret Mission to Save Six Americans During the Iran Hostage Crisis and the Ambassador Who Worked with the CIA to Bring Them Home
by Robert WrightThe world watched with fear in November 1979, when Iranian students infiltrated and occupied the American embassy in Tehran. The Americans were caught entirely by surprise, and what began as a swift and seemingly short-lived takeover evolved into a crisis that would see fifty four embassy personnel held hostage, most for 444 days. As Tehran exploded in a fury of revolution, six American diplomats secretly escaped. For three months, Ken Taylor, the Canadian ambassador to Iran-along with his wife and embassy staffers-concealed the Americans in their homes, always with the prospect that the revolutionary government of Ayatollah Khomeini would exact deadly consequences. The United States found itself handcuffed by a fractured, fundamentalist government it could not understand and had completely underestimated. With limited intelligence resources available on the ground and anti-American sentiment growing, President Carter turned to Taylor to work with the CIA in developing their exfiltration plans. Until now, the true story behind Taylor's involvement in the escape of the six diplomats and the Eagle Claw commando raid has remained classified. InOur Man in Tehran,Robert Wright takes us back to a major historical flashpoint and unfolds a story of cloak-and-dagger intrigue that brings a new understanding of the strained relationship between the Unites States and Iran. With the world once again focused on these two countries, this book is the stuff of John le Carreacute; and Daniel Silva made real.
Our Man in Vienna: A Memoir
by Richard Timothy ConroyThe wit and charm that marked Our Man in Belize enlivens Richard Timothy Conroy's new "diplomatic memoir," in a posting that couldn't have a more different location. But the wheels of lower-level diplomacy, it turns out, turn at the same rate whatever the setting. Plucked from the cost of Central America and put down in post-World-War II Vienna, land of Der Rosencavalier and whipped cream cakes, Conroy still was "not mentioned in dispatches" (or at least, not complimentary ones) but even a lowly vice-consul could do some good in people's lives. Take, for example, his effort to help a woman flee Vienna after she reported that someone was sneaking into her room and slicing off a bit of her foot each night. Or the unfortunate Austrian whose visa application had been rejected three previous times, with no explanation. Conroy discovered that there was a picture of the man in a Red Army sergeant's uniform. Turned out the man had conned a gullible Red Army soldier to lend him the uniform for a snapshot, and an equally gullible group of Russian border guards that he was an undercover Red agent posing as (what he really was) an export-import businessman. Nobody before Conroy had bothered to ask for an explanation. In between similar tales of deep diplomatic deed and misdeed, the author gives his readers an imitable take on the Vienna of those days. Want to buy a second-hand piano? Some inexpensive paintings? How about -- above all -- that famous Viennese food and beer? You could have found it there with Conroy as your guide; failing that, his account of those days is just as rewarding and not nearly as fattening.
Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century
by George PackerFrom the award-winning author of The Unwinding--the vividly told saga of the ambition, idealism, and hubris of one of the most legendary and complicated figures in recent American history, set amid the rise and fall of U.S. power from Vietnam to Afghanistan"I doubt that any novel, not even one co-written by Graham Greene and F. Scott Fitzgerald, could have captured Holbrooke fully, and I certainly thought that no biography ever would. But now one has. George Packer's Our Man portrays Holbrooke in all his endearing and self-willed glory.... Both a sweeping diplomatic history and a Shakespearean tragicomedy." --Walter Isaacson, The New York Times Book ReviewRichard Holbrooke was brilliant, utterly self-absorbed, and possessed of almost inhuman energy and appetites. Admired and detested, he was the force behind the Dayton Accords that ended the Balkan wars, America's greatest diplomatic achievement in the post-Cold War era. His power lay in an utter belief in himself and his idea of a muscular, generous foreign policy. From his days as a young adviser in Vietnam to his last efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, Holbrooke embodied the postwar American impulse to take the lead on the global stage. But his sharp elbows and tireless self-promotion ensured that he never rose to the highest levels in government that he so desperately coveted. His story is thus the story of America during its era of supremacy: its strength, drive, and sense of possibility, as well as its penchant for overreach and heedless self-confidence. In Our Man, drawn from Holbrooke's diaries and papers, we are given a nonfiction narrative that is both intimate and epic in its revelatory portrait of this extraordinary and deeply flawed man and the elite spheres of society and government he inhabited.
Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino”
by Héctor TobarWINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR NONFICTIONNamed One of The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023One of Time’s 100 Must-Read Books of 2023 | A Top Ten Book of 2023 at Chicago Public LibraryA new book by the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer about the twenty-first-century Latino experience and identity.In Our Migrant Souls, the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Héctor Tobar delivers a definitive and personal exploration of what it means to be Latino in the United States right now.“Latino” is the most open-ended and loosely defined of the major race categories in the United States, and also one of the most rapidly growing. Composed as a direct address to the young people who identify or have been classified as “Latino,” Our Migrant Souls is the first account of the historical and social forces that define Latino identity.Taking on the impacts of colonialism, public policy, immigration, media, and pop culture, Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of “Latino” as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and gives voice to the anger and the hopes of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes and who have faced insult and division—a story as old as this country itself.Tobar translates his experience as not only a journalist and novelist but also a mentor, a leader, and an educator. He interweaves his own story, and that of his parents’ migration to the United States from Guatemala, into his account of his journey across the country to uncover something expansive, inspiring, true, and alive about the meaning of “Latino” in the twenty-first century.A new book by the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer about the twenty-first-century Latino experience and identity.In Our Migrant Souls, the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Héctor Tobar delivers a definitive and personal exploration of what it means to be Latino in the United States right now. “Latino” is the most open-ended and loosely defined of the major race categories in the United States, and also one of the most rapidly growing. Composed as a direct address to the young people who identify or have been classified as “Latino,” Our Migrant Souls is the first account of the historical and social forces that define Latino identity.Taking on the impacts of colonialism, public policy, immigration, media, and pop culture, Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of “Latino” as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States, and gives voice to the anger and the hopes of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes and who have faced insult and division—a story as old as this country itself. Tobar translates his experience as not only a journalist and novelist but also a mentor, a leader, and an educator. He interweaves his own story, and that of his parents’ migration to the United States from Guatemala, into his account of his journey across the country to uncover something expansive, inspiring, true, and alive about the meaning of “Latino” in the twenty-first century.
Our Moon has Blood Clots: The Exodus Of The Kashmiri Pandits
by Rahul PanditaRahul Pandita was fourteen years old in 1990 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family, who were Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority within a Muslim majority Kashmir that was becoming increasingly agitated with the cries of ‘Azadi’ from India. The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists. But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried. Our Moon Has Blood Clots is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants. Hundreds of people were tortured and killed, and about 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country. Rahul Pandita has written a deeply personal, powerful and unforgettable story of history, home and loss.
Our Mothers Ourselves: Six women from across the world tell their mothers' stories
by Cathy HullIn a world shaken by the great upheavals of World War and the collapse of Empire, six women from different corners of the world transcend the constraints of their different backgrounds. Their physical and emotional migrations open the way to personal journeys which redefine them and enable their daughters to live lives of greater personal freedom and fulfillment. This book tells the stories of our mothers, six ordinary women who undertook extraordinary journeys. It is a tribute and an expression of love.
Our Mothers' Spirits
by Bob Blauneran anthology of pieces by great writers on the death of mothers and the grief of men.
Our National Anthem
by Norman PearlIf you love your country, sing! Since 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been the national anthem of the United States. Journey back to 1814, and join Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the words to the anthem, for a close look at this song of freedom.
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label That Got Big and Stayed Small
by John Cook Laura Ballance Mac McCaughanMerge Records defies everything you’ve heard about the music business. Started by two twenty-year-old musicians, Merge is a lesson in how to make and market great music on a human scale. The fact that the company is prospering in a failing industry is something of a miracle. Yet two of their bands made the Billboard Top 10 list; more than 1 million copies of Arcade Fire's Neon Bible have been sold; Spoon has appeared on Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show; and the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs is a contemporary classic. In celebration of their twentieth anniversary, founders Mac and Laura offer first-person accounts—with the help of their colleagues and Merge artists—of their work, their lives, and the culture of making music. Our Noise also tells the behind-the-scenes stories of Arcade Fire, Spoon, the Magnetic Fields, Superchunk, Lambchop, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Butterglory. Hundreds of personal photos of the bands, along with album cover art, concert posters, and other memorabilia are included.
Our Oaken Bones: Reviving a Family, a Farm and Britain’s Ancient Rainforests
by Merlin Hanbury-TenisonAn enormously moving and inspiring story about war, trauma, nature and rebirth, written with infectious passion and unsparing honesty. I loved it. - DOMINIC SANDBROOKScholarly, wise, funny, charming, terrifying and thrilling... I adored it all, every page. - JOANNA LUMLEYThis is a lovely book - wise, brave, thoughtful, painfully intimate - but with a remarkable spiritual and environmental vision. - RORY STEWARTAn extraordinarily courageous, urgent and powerful book. - ISABELLA TREEDeeply compelling... emotional, informative, pleasurable. I believe that this is an important work with planet-sized dreams and ambitions. Perhaps the greatest philosophy or teachable lesson that came to me off the page is that dominion comes with responsibility. - RUSSELL CROWEI love this book. - RICK STEINPowerfully enchanting, written with verve and imbued with hope. - GUY SHRUBSOLEI lie on the rock to let my limbs dry after my immersion in the river. My bones warm. I have no towel but the moss is grateful for the additional moisture that I bring as the water runs off me and into its spongy web of roots and branches. I look up through the canopy and time freezes as the oak leaves drift gently backwards and forwards, dappling the light as it falls onto my body.I am home.Reeling from the pain of devastating miscarriages and suffering from PTSD after military adventures in Afghanistan, Merlin and his wife Lizzie decide to leave the bustle of London and return to Merlin’s childhood home, a Cornish hill farm called Cabilla in the heart of Bodmin Moor.There, they are met by unexpected challenges: a farm slipping ever further into debt, the discovery that the overgrazed and damaged woods running throughout the valley are in fact one of the UK’s last remaining fragments of Atlantic temperate rainforest, and the sudden and near catastrophic strickening by Covid of Merlin’s father, the explorer Robin. As they fall more in love with the rainforest that Merlin had adventured in as a child, so begins a fight to save not only themselves and their farm, but also one of the world’s most endangered habitats.Our Oaken Bones is an honest and intimate true story about renewal, the astonishing healing power of nature, and our duty to heal it in return.For fans of The Salt Path and The Lost Rainforests of Britain.
Our Paris: Sketches from Memory
by Edmund WhiteWhat happens when one of our most celebrated writers combines talents with a French artist and architect to capture life in their Parisian neighborhood? The result is a lighthearted, gently satiric portrait of the heart of Paris -- including the Marais, Les Halles, the two islands in the Seine, and the Châtelet -- and the people who call it home. It is an enchantingly varied world, populated not only by dazzling literati and ultrachic couturiers and art dealers but also by poetic shopkeepers, grandmotherly prostitutes, and, ever underfoot, an irrepressible basset hound named Fred. The foibles and eccentricities of these sometimes outrageous, always memorable individuals are brought to life with unfailing wit and affection. Below the surface of the sparkling humor in Our Paris, there is a tragic undercurrent. While Hubert Sorin was completing this work, he was nearing the end of his struggle with AIDS. The book is a tribute to the loving spirit with which the authors banished somberness and celebrated the pleasures of their life together.
Our Perfect Wild: Ray & Barbara Bane's Journeys and the Fate of Far North
by Kaylene Johnson-Sullivan Ray BaneRay and Barbara Bane worked as teachers in Barrow and Wainwright, Alaska, in the early 1960s—but they didn’t simply teach the children of their Iñupiat Eskimo and Koyukon friends and neighbors: they fully embraced their lifestyle. Doing so, they realized how closely intertwined life in the region was with the land, and, specifically, how critical wilderness was to the ancient traditions and wisdom that undergirded the Native way of life. That slow realization came to a head during a 1,200-mile dogsled trip from Hughes to Barrow in 1974—a trip that led them to give up teaching in favor of working, through the National Park Service, to preserve Alaska’s wilderness. This book tells their story, a tale of dedication and tireless labor in the face of suspicion, resistance, and even violence. At a time when Alaska’s natural bounty remains under threat, Our Perfect Wild shows us an example of the commitment—and love—that will be required to preserve it.
Our Pioneers and Patriots
by Philip J. FurlongA famous 5th-8th grade American history textbook written in 1940 with Catholic faith and patriotic love of country. From early exploration and settlement through the 20th century.
Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy
by Nicole Seitz and Jonathan HauptAcclaimed writers, family, friends, and more pay homage to the celebrated Southern author of The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini.New York Times–bestselling writer Pat Conroy (1945–2016) inspired a worldwide legion of devoted fans, but none are more loyal to him and more committed to sustaining his literary legacy than the many writers he nurtured over the course of his fifty-year career. In sharing their stories of Conroy, his fellow writers honor his memory and advance our shared understanding of his lasting impact on literary life in and well beyond the American South. Conroy&’s fellowship drew from all walks of life. His relationships were complicated, and people and places he thought he&’d left behind often circled back to him at crucial moments. The pantheon of contributors includes Rick Bragg, Kathleen Parker, Barbra Streisand, Janis Ian, Anthony Grooms, Mary Hood, Nikky Finney, Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart, Ron Rash, Sandra Brown, and Mary Alice Monroe; Conroy biographers Katherine Clark and Catherine Seltzer; his longtime friends; Pat&’s students Sallie Ann Robinson and Valerie Sayers; members of the Conroy family; and many more. Each author in this collection shares a slightly different view of Conroy. Through their voices, a multifaceted portrait of him comes to life and sheds new light on who he was. Loosely following Conroy&’s own chronology, the essays herewith wind through his river of a story, stopping at important ports of call. Cities he called home and longed to visit, along with each book he birthed, become characters that are as equally important as the people he touched along the way.
Our Queen Elizabeth: Her Extraordinary Life from the Crown to the Corgis
by Kate WilliamsA colourful, charming picture book by historian Kate Williams, taking young readers on an amazing journey through Queen Elizabeth II's seven decades on the throne.Discover everything there is to know about the life and the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II in this beautifully illustrated book. Readers will learn all about Elizabeth II's youth growing up during the Second World War, how she came to the throne and what it really means to be the Queen. Along the way, they'll see her sparkling crown jewels and magnificent palaces. They will meet her beloved corgis, horses and of course, her very famous family. Plus they'll discover lots of amazing facts - such as why she has two birthdays, always wears bright clothing, and is a world record breaker!This is a perfect gift for all the family, celebrating the extraordinary life of Queen Elizabeth II - from the Crown to the Corgis.
Our Rainbow Queen: A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and Her Colorful Wardrobe
by Sali HughesA full-spectrum collection of photos of the Queen, paired with illuminating captions explaining each outfit, spanning nine decades of fashion and every color of the rainbow.This riotously colorful book takes a photographic journey through Queen Elizabeth II's ten decades of color-blocked style. The photographs, which span the colors of the rainbow and a century of style, are gloriously accessorized with captions and commentary by journalist and broadcaster Sali Hughes, who gives fascinating context to each photo. Readers will learn how the Queen has used color and fashion in strategic and discreetly political ways, such as wearing the colors of the European flag to a post-Brexit meeting or a pin given to her by the Obamas to a meeting with Donald Trump. With stunning photographs that span from the 1950s to today, and featuring brilliant colors ranging from the dusky pinks the Queen wore in girlhood through to the neon green dress that prompted the hashtag #NeonAt90, this must-have collection celebrates the iconic fashion statements of the UK's longest reigning and most vibrant monarch.
Our Red Book: Intimate Conversations about Periods
by Rachel Kauder NalebuffA Scottish MP celebrates making period products freely available. A father admits embarrassment at buying pads for his daughter. A Jewish grandmother describes getting her first period in front of Nazi soldiers. A trans woman, a trans man and a non-binary person share their stories. And a marathon runner makes crimson waves.From the first red flag to the last goodbye, from Indigenous rites to medical frontiers, from miscarriages to menopause, from pain to pride, from 'free bleeding' in public to bleeding behind bars - the underwear, the oversight, period poverty and protests - Our Red Book takes us to every corner of the globe and every voice yet unheard.Featuring contributions from Gloria Steinem, Judy Blume, Madame Gandhi, and Florence Given, Our Red Book is a collection of oral histories, written and visual testimonies from extraordinary people around the world, gathered especially by the New York Times bestselling editor of My Little Red Book.
Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In
by Bernie SandersThe New York Times–bestselling memoir by the longest-serving political independent in Congressional history.When Bernie Sanders began his race for the presidency, it was considered a “fringe” campaign by the political establishment and the media—something not to be taken seriously. After all, he was just an Independent senator from a small state with little name recognition. His campaign had no money and no political organization, and it was taking on the entire Democratic Party establishment.By the time Sanders’s campaign came to a close, however, it was clear that the pundits had gotten it wrong. Bernie had run one of the most consequential campaigns in the modern history of the country. He’d received more than 13 million votes in primaries and caucuses throughout the country, he won twenty-two states, and more than 1.4 million people had attended his public meetings. Most important, he showed that the American people were prepared to take on the greed and irresponsibility of corporate America and the 1 percent.In Our Revolution, Sanders shares his personal experiences from the campaign trail. And for the millions looking to continue the political revolution, he outlines a progressive economic, environmental, racial, and social justice agenda that will create jobs, raise wages, protect the environment, and provide health care for all—and ultimately transform our country and our world for the better. For him, the political revolution has just started. The campaign may be over, but the struggle goes on.Includes photographs
Our Revolution: A Mother And Daughter At Midcentury
by Honor MooreA daughter’s memoir of her mother evolves beautifully into a narrative of the far-reaching changes in women’s lives in the twentieth century. With the sweep of an epic novel, Our Revolution follows Jenny Moore, a charismatic and brilliant woman whose life changed as she became engaged in the great twentieth-century movements for peace and social justice. Born into Boston society in 1923 and the first woman in her family to go to college, she set aside writing ambitions to marry Paul Moore, a decorated war hero who became Bishop Paul Moore. Together they had nine children—"I wanted a baseball team," Jenny said, "or a small orchestra." Rejecting a conventional path, the Moores moved to an inner-city parish in Jersey City and began their family while collaborating on a socially radical, multiracial ministry. In 1968, Jenny published her first book. "Everything was just starting," she protested—meaning an independent life inspired in part by the new feminist movement—when she was diagnosed with cancer at fifty. Jenny bequeathed to her eldest daughter, Honor, then a twenty-seven-year-old poet, her unfinished writing. As Honor pursued her own career as a writer, she was haunted by her mother’s bequest. Decades later, she delves into Jenny’s pages and forges a new relationship with the passionate seeker and truth teller she finds there. Our Revolution is a vivid, absorbing account of two women navigating the twentieth century and a daughter’s story of the mother who shaped her life as an artist and a woman.
Our Roots Are Deep with Passion
by Lee Gutkind Joanna Clapps HermanThoughtful, poignant, and hilarious personal essays collected by the editors of Creative Nonfiction explore the meanings of Italian-American identity. In the twenty-one nonfiction narratives collected in Our Roots Are Deep with Passion, established and emerging writers with family ties to Italy reflect on the ways that their lives have been accented with uniquely Italian-American flavors. Several of the essays breathe new life into the time-honored theme of family--Louise DeSalvo honors her grandfather, nick-named "the drunk" because he spent his life of hard work drinking wine instead of water, and James Vescovi portrays the close of the stormy relationship between his father and grandmother. Other stories tackle the mystical side of Italian-American life, like Laura Valeri's account of a summer vacation séance in Sardinia that goes eerily awry. And elsewhere, Stephanie Susnjara charts the history of garlic in society and her kitchen, and Gina Barreca offers an unabashed confession of congenital jealousy.Lee Gutkind, founding editor of Creative Nonfiction, the nation's premier nonfiction prose literary journal, and Joanna Clapps Herman have brought together artful essays by novelists, scholars, critics, and memoirists from across the country. The pieces are as varied as their authors, but all explore the unique intersections of language, tradition, cuisine, and culture that characterize the diverse experience of Americans of Italian heritage.
Our Sarah: Made in Alaska
by Chuck HeathWe may think we know Sarah Palin from all the coverage she has received in the political arena, but one-side depictions but media coverage is limited and, Sarah would even say, biased. OUR SARAH is also a bit biased since it's written by Sarah's dad and brother with contributions from many friends and colleagues--these are the people who know her--and love her--best.Combining the appeal of Sarah Palin's bestselling book, Going Rogue, with the flavor of the hugely successful TV show "Sarah Palin's Alaska," here are intimate stories from Sarah's life along with a celebration of growing up in and sharing all that Alaska means to Sarah and her family. Sarah's dad and brother share great family stories of life in the last frontier--from hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and gold-mining, to marathon running, teaching and community service--first in small ways and then on a national stage. Structured around themes of family, faith, independence, resilience, character, risk-taking and adventure--here is a full and loving portrait of where Sarah Palin came from and what made her the person she is today.
Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement
by Tanisha FordAn engrossing social history of the unsinkable Mollie Moon, the stylish founder of the National Urban League Guild and fundraiser extraordinaire who reigned over the glittering "Beaux Arts Ball,” the social event of New York and Harlem society for fifty years—a glamorous event rivalling today’s Met Gala, drawing America’s wealthy and cultured, both Black and white.Our Secret Society brilliantly illuminates a little known yet highly significant aspect of the civil rights movement that has been long overlooked—the powerhouse fundraising effort that supported the movement—the luncheons, galas, cabarets, and traveling exhibitions attended by middle-class and working-class Black families, the Negro press, and titans of industry, including Winthrop Rockefeller.No one knew this world better or ruled over it with more authority than Mollie Moon. With her husband Henry Lee Moon, the longtime publicist for the NAACP, Mollie became half of one of the most influential couples of the period. Vivacious and intellectually curious, Mollie frequently hosted political salons attended by guests ranging from Langston Hughes to Lorraine Hansberry. As the president of the National Urban League Guild, the fundraising arm of the National Urban League; Mollie raised millions to fund grassroots activists battling for economic justice and racial equality. She was a force behind the mutual aid network that connected Black churches, domestic and blue-collar laborers, social clubs, and sororities and fraternities across the country.Historian and cultural critic Tanisha C. Ford brings Mollie into focus as never before, charting her rise from Jim Crow Mississippi to doyenne of Manhattan and Harlem, where she became one of the most influential philanthropists of her time—a woman feared, resented, yet widely respected. She chronicles Mollie’s larger-than-life antics through exhaustive research, never-before-revealed letters, and dozens of interviews.Our Secret Society ushers us into a world with its own rhythm and rules, led by its own Who’s Who of African Americans in politics, sports, business, and entertainment. It is both a searing portrait of a remarkable period in America, spanning from the early 1930s through the late 1960s, and a strategic economic blueprint today’s activists can emulate.Our Secret Society includes 16 pages of never-before-seen photographs.
Our Shoes, Our Selves: 40 Women, 40 Stories, 40 Pairs of Shoes
by Bridget Moynahan Amanda BenchleyForty remarkable women share the stories and memories behind their favorite shoes—accompanied by gorgeous photography.Cinderella wasn’t the only one whose life was changed by a pair of shoes. Ask any woman about her favorite pair and you’re sure to get an answer that goes beyond their material design. In Our Shoes, Our Selves: 40 Women, 40 Stories, 40 Pairs of Shoes, actress Bridget Moynahan and journalist Amanda Benchley ask forty accomplished women to recount the memories behind their most meaningful footwear. This collection features stories from icons like Bobbi Brown, Danica Patrick, and Misty Copeland; intrepid reporters like Christiane Amanpour and Katie Couric; and creative forces like Rupi Kaur, Maya Lin, and Gretchen Rubin. Beautifully illustrated with a portrait of each woman and her chosen shoes, the stories explore what most women already know: that what we wear can have power and significance beyond merely clothing our bodies. Our Shoes, Our Selves reveals these remarkable journeys, and the steps these inspiring women have taken to get there.