- Table View
- List View
Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age
by Amanda Hess&“Second Life is a tender, perceptive account of pregnancy and early motherhood—and a stylish confrontation with the demented landscape of digital parenting content.&” —Anna Wiener, author of Uncanny ValleyAs an internet culture critic for The New York Times, Amanda Hess had built a reputation among readers as a sharp observer of the seductions and manipulations of online life. But when Hess discovered she was pregnant with her first child, she found herself unexpectedly rattled by a digital identity crisis of her own.In the summer of 2020, a routine ultrasound detected a mysterious abnormality in Hess&’s baby. Without hesitation, she reached for her phone, looking for answers. But rather than allaying her anxieties, her search sucked her into the destabilizing morass of the internet, and she was vulnerable—more than ever—to conspiracy, myth, judgment, commerce, and obsession.As Hess documents her escalating relationship with the digital world, she identifies how technologies act as portals to troubling ideologies, ethical conflicts, and existential questions, and she illuminates how the American traditions of eugenics, surveillance, and hyper-individualism are recycled through these shiny products for a new generation of parents and their children.At once funny, heartbreaking, and surreal, Second Life is a journey that spans a network of fertility apps, prenatal genetic tests, gender reveal videos, rare disease Facebook groups, &“freebirth&” influencers, and hospital reality shows. Hess confronts technology&’s distortions as they follow her through pregnancy and into her son&’s early life. The result is a critical record of our digital age that reveals the unspoken ways our lives are being fractured and reconstituted by technology.
Second Rising: A Novel
by Catherine M.A. WiebePeople cannot readily be categorized, nor some books. Second Rising is one of them. In her publishing debut, Canadian fiction writer Catherine Wiebe is as refreshing as she is startling with this fictional memoir of birthing and memory, a chronicle of food prepared, bread baked, and human skin bringing first experience of the world. Who knew that a grandmother kneaded sorrow into each loaf of bread she baked, or that her memories were preserved along with the pickles she and her granddaughter made? Wiebe instinctively knows that preparing food for someone we love is the most intimate act of all, making something that will not only be taken into the mouth and be transformed into flesh, but will linger in memory as well. Wiebe writes prose as if it were poetry, sharp and clear, touching the mind and stirring the heart while awakening long-forgotten truths. Second Rising is the afterlife of food, the memory of what was, once its reality has gone. Catherine M.A. Wiebe, a recent graduate in arts and science from McMaster University, and her husband Tim live in Hamilton, Ontario. She has worked as an editor, graphic designer, construction site supervisor, teaching assistant, and bookkeeper. Wiebe’s enthusiasm for wholesome food and new recipes parallels her freshness in creative writing - the mixture that is never the same, worked with artistic knowledge of how to combine ingredients in ways that startle freedom to life.
Second Sight
by Robert V. HineThe author talks about when he goes blind, the things that happen to him, and when he regains his sight
Second Sight: The True Story of Britain's Most Remarkable Medium
by Sharon Neill"She said I was a psychic, that she dabbled herself and recognised my talent. I thought she was barmy, didn't think anything more of it - until the night Granny appeared to me..."Sharon Neill was studying at college when she first discovered she had an ability to talk to the dead. She began trying out readings on her friends for fun and soon developed her talent. She now works as a full-time medium and is highly revered within the psychic world.In this revealing autobiography Sharon gives an insight into many of the visions that have appeared to her over the years, with a glimpse of the dark and dangerous as well as the rewarding and uplifting.Read by the author.(p) 2007 Orion Publishing Group
Second Suns
by David Oliver Relin<P>From the co-author of Three Cups of Tea comes the inspiring story of two very different doctors--one from the United States, the other from Nepal--united in a common mission: to rid the world of preventable blindness. <P> In this transporting book, David Oliver Relin shines a light on the work of Geoffrey Tabin and Sanduk Ruit, gifted ophthalmologists who have dedicated their lives to restoring sight to some of the world's most isolated, impoverished people through the Himalayan Cataract Project, an organization they founded in 1995. Tabin was the high-achieving bad boy of Harvard Medical School, an accomplished mountain climber and adrenaline junkie as brilliant as he was unconventional. Ruit grew up in a remote Nepalese village, where he became intimately acquainted with the human costs of inadequate access to health care. <P>Together they found their life's calling: tending to the afflicted people of the Himalayas, a vast mountainous region with an alarmingly high incidence of cataract blindness. <P>Second Suns takes us from improvised plywood operating tables in villages without electricity or plumbing to state-of-the-art surgical centers at major American universities where these two driven men are restoring sight--and hope--to patients from around the world. With their revolutionary, inexpensive style of surgery, Tabin and Ruit have been able to cure tens of thousands--all for about twenty dollars per operation. <P>David Oliver Relin brings the doctors' work to vivid life through poignant portraits of patients helped by the surgery, from old men who cannot walk treacherous mountain trails unaided to cataract-stricken children who have not seen their mothers' faces for years. With the dexterity of a master storyteller, Relin shows the profound emotional and practical impact that these operations have had on patients' lives. <P>Second Suns is the moving, unforgettable story of how two men with a shared dream are changing the world, one pair of eyes at a time.
Second Suns: Two Trailblazing Doctors And Their Quest To Cure Blindness, One Pair Of Eyes At A Time
by David Oliver RelinNow in paperback: a #1 New York Times–bestselling author’s gripping chronicle of “two doctors . . . bringing light to those in darkness” (Time) Second Suns is the unforgettable true story of two very different doctors with a common mission: to rid the world of preventable blindness. Dr. Geoffrey Tabin was the high-achieving “bad boy” of his class at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sanduk Ruit grew up in a remote village in the Himalayas, where cataract blindness—easily curable in modern hospitals—amounts to an epidemic. Together, they pioneered a new surgical method, by which they have restored sight to over 100,000 people—all for about $20 per operation. Master storyteller David Oliver Relin brings the doctors’ work to vivid life through poignant portraits of their patients, from old men who can once again walk treacherous mountain trails, to children who can finally see their mothers’ faces. The Himalayan Cataract Project is changing the world—one pair of eyes at a time.
Second Thoughts: On Having and Being a Second Child
by Lynn BergerA lovely, searching meditation on second children—on whether to have one and what it means to be one—that seamlessly weaves pieces of art and culture on the topic with scientific research and personal anecdotes <P><P>The decision to have more than one child is at least as consuming as the decision to have a child at all—and yet for all the good books that deliberate on the choice of becoming a parent, there is far less writing on the choice of becoming a parent of two, and all the questions that arise during the process. Is there any truth in the idea of character informed by birth order, or the loneliness of only children? What is the reality of sibling rivalry? What might a parent to one, or two, come to regret? Lynn Berger is here to fill that gap with the curious, reflective Second Thoughts. Grounded in autobiography and full of considered allusion, careful investigation and generous candor, it’s an exploration specifically dedicated to second children and their particular, too often forgotten lot. Warm and wise, intimate and universal at once, it’s a must read for parents-to-be and want-to-be, parents of one, parents of two or more, and second children themselves.
Second Wind: A Sunfish Sailor, an Island, and the Voyage That Brought a Family Together
by Nathaniel PhilbrickA charming memoir of midlife by the bestselling author of Mayflower and In the Heart of the Sea, recounting his attempt to recapture a national sailing championship he'd won at twenty-two.“There had been something elemental and all consuming about a Sunfish. Nothing could compare to the exhilaration of a close race in a real blow—the wind howling and spray flying as my Sunfish and I punched through the waves to the finish.”In the spring of 1992, Nat Philbrick was in his late thirties, living with his family on Nantucket, feeling stranded and longing for that thrill of victory he once felt after winning a national sailing championship in his youth. Was it a midlife crisis? It was certainly a watershed for the journalist-turned-stay-at-home dad, who impulsively decided to throw his hat into the ring, or water, again. With the bemused approval of his wife and children, Philbrick used the off-season on the island as his solitary training ground, sailing his tiny Sunfish to its remotest corners, experiencing the haunting beauty of its tidal creeks, inlets, and wave-battered sandbars. On ponds, bays, rivers, and finally at the championship on a lake in the heartland of America, he sailed through storms and memories, racing for the prize, but finding something unexpected about himself instead.
Second Wind: One Woman's Midlife Quest to Run Seven Marathons on Seven Continents
by Cami OstmanSecond Wind is the story of an unlikely athlete and an unlikely heroine: Cami Ostman, a woman edging toward midlife who decides to take on a challenge that stretches her way outside of her comfort zone. That challenge presents itself when an old friend suggests she go for a run to distract her from the grief of her recent divorce. Excited by the clarity of mind and breathing space running offers her, she keeps it up - albeit slowly - and she decides to run seven marathons on seven continents; this becomes Ostman's vision quest, the thing she turns to during the ups and downs of a new romance and during the hard months and years of redefining herself in the aftermath of the very restrictive, religious-based marriage and life she led up until her divorce. Insightful and uplifting, Second Wind carries the reader along for the ride as Ostman runs her way out of compliance with the patriarchal rules about "being a woman" that long held her captive and into authenticity and self-love. Her adventures - and the personal revelations that accompany them - inspire readers to take chances, find truth in their lives, and learn to listen to the voice inside them that's been there all along.
Second World War Lives: Published in Association with the Second World War Experience Centre
by James GoultyThe Second World War was a momentous event in twentieth-century history and it is a fascinating period for family historians to explore. Numerous records are available to researchers whose relatives served in the war, and James Goultys book is an accessible guide on how to locate and understand these sources - and get the most out of them.Using evidence gleaned from a range of sources archives, official records, books, libraries, oral history and the internet he reconstructs the wartime records of a revealing and representative group of ordinary men and women: a signaler, an infantryman, a doctor, an artillery officer, a woman serving with anti aircraft units, a commando, a Royal Navy bomb disposal officer, RAF fighter and bomber pilots, and others. He describes their wartime careers and experiences and demonstrates how they fitted into contemporary military organizations and operations. He looks at their backgrounds, their wartime training and duties, their front line service, and the conditions they endured. In each case he shows how the research was conducted and explains how the lives of such individuals can be explored highlighting methods that can be used and sources that can be consulted. James Goultys informative book will be essential reading and reference for anyone who wants to find out about the Second World War and is keen to understand the part an ancestor played in it.
Secrecy and Power: Life Of J. Edgar Hoover
by Richard Gid PowersA well-researched biography about the public and private life of J. Edgar Hoover—former FBI director and America&’s most controversial law enforcer—that draws on previously unknown personal documents, a study of FBI files, and the presidential papers of nine administrations.Secrecy and Power is a full biography of former FBI director, covering all aspects of Hoover&’s controversial career from the Red Scare following World War I to the 1960s and his personal vendettas against Martin Luther King and the civil rights and antiwar movements.
Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult
by Richard B. SpenceAleister Crowley is best known today as a founding father of modern occultism. His wide, hypnotic eyes peer at us from the cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and his influence can be found everywhere in popular culture.Crowley, also known as the Great Beast, has been the subject of several biographies, some painting him as a misunderstood genius, others as a manipulative charlatan. None of them have looked seriously at his career as an agent of British Intelligence.Using documents gleaned from British, American, French, and Italian archives, Secret Agent 666 sensationally reveals that Crowley played a major role in the sinking of the Lusitania, a plot to overthrow the government of Spain, the thwarting of Irish and Indian nationalist conspiracies, and the 1941 flight of Rudolf Hess.Author Richard B. Spence argues that Crowley--in his own unconventional way--was a patriotic Englishman who endured years of public vilification in part to mask his role as a secret agent.The verification of the Great Beast's participation in the twentieth century's most astounding government plots will likely blow the minds of history buff s and occult aficionados alike.Author Richard B. Spence can be seen on various documentaries on the History Channel and is a consultant for Washington, DC's International Spy Museum. He is also the author of Trust No One: The Secret World of Sidney Reilly (Feral House).
Secret Agent, Unsung Hero: The Valour of Bruce Dowding
by Ken Spillman Peter DowdingYoung Australian teacher Bruce Dowding arrived in Paris in 1938, planning only to improve his understanding of French language and culture. Secret Agent, Unsung Hero draws on decades of research to reveal, for the first time, his coming of age as a leader in escape and evasion during World War II. Dowding helped exfiltrate hundreds of Allied servicemen from occupied France and paid the ultimate price. He was beheaded by the Nazis just after his 29th birthday in 1943.
Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ
by Brother Andrew Al JanssenFrom the bestselling author of "Gods Smuggler" comes this riveting true story of the Middle Eastern Church struggling to come to grips with hostile governments, terrorist acts, and an influx of Muslims coming to Christ.
Secret Channel to Berlin: The Masson-Schellenberg Connection and Swiss Intelligence in World War II
by Pierre Th. BraunschweigA revealing account of Swiss intelligence operations during WWII, including a secret backchannel between Switzerland and Nazi Germany. During World War II, Col. Roger Masson, the head of Swiss Intelligence, maintained a secret link to the German Chief of Espionage, SS Gen. Walter Schellenberg. With access to previously inaccessible documents, including newly discovered material in American archives, historian Pierre Braunschweig fully illuminates this connection for the first time, along with surprising new details about the military threats Switzerland faced in March 1943. During World War II, Switzerland was famous as a center of espionage fielded by Allies and Axis alike. Less has been known, however, about Switzerland&’s own intelligence activities, including its secret sources in Hitler&’s councils and its counterespionage program at home. In Secret Channel to Berlin, Braunschweig details the functions of Swiss Intelligence during World War II and sheds new light on conflicts between Swiss Intelligence and the federal government in Bern, as well as within the intelligence service itself.
Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG
by John L. PlasterMajor John L. Plaster recalls his remarkable covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War in a “comprehensive, informative, and often exciting…account of an important part of the overall Vietnam tragedy” (The New York Times).Before there were Navy SEALs, there was SOG. Short for “Studies and Operations Group,” it was a secret operations force in Vietnam, the most highly decorated unit in the war. Although their chief mission was disrupting the main North Vietnamese supply route into South Vietnam, SOG commandos also rescued downed helicopter pilots and fellow soldiers, and infiltrated deep into Laos and Cambodia to identify bombing targets, conduct ambushes, mine roads, and capture North Vietnamese soldiers for intelligence purposes. Always outnumbered, they matched wits in the most dangerous environments with an unrelenting foe that hunted them with trackers and dogs. Ten entire teams disappeared and another fourteen were annihilated. This is the dramatic, page-turning true story of that team’s dedication, sacrifice, and constant fight for survival. In the “gripping” (Publishers Weekly) Secret Commandos, John Plaster vividly describes these unique warriors who gave everything fighting for their country—and for each other.
Secret Daughter
by June CrossA powerful memoir about the complicated but ultimately loving relationship between a black daughter and her white mother Secret Daughter is a deftly drawn and moving portrait of a childhood spent in two very different worlds: one white, one black. In 1957, when June Cross was four years old, she was sent by her white mother to live with a black family in Atlantic City. Her mother, Norma, had left June's abusive father, a comic in the well-known black vaudeville duo Stump and Stumpy, and gave June up when it became clear that her dark-skinned, kinky-haired child could no longer "pass. " Within her adopted family, June struggled with her identity as the black radicalism of the times collided head on with her family's more traditional ideals. Summer vacations were spent with her mother, now in Hollywood and married to F Troop TV actor Larry Storch. For many years, Norma, afraid that Larry's career would suffer if anyone discovered the truth about her illegitimate daughter, told friends and reporters that June was adopted. Secret Daughter, which grew out of Cross's Emmy Award-winning documentary, traces this thorny story with poignancy and skill. It is both a vivid snapshot of race relations in America and an inspiring journey of understanding between a mother and daughter.
Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away
by June CrossJune Cross was born in 1954 to Norma Booth, a glamorous, aspiring white actress, and James "Stump" Cross, a well-known black comedian. Sent by her mother to be raised by black friends when she was four years old and could no longer pass as white, June was plunged into the pain and confusion of a family divided by race. Secret Daughter tells her story of survival. It traces June's astonishing discoveries about her mother and about her own fierce determination to thrive. This is an inspiring testimony to the endurance of love between mother and daughter, a child and her adoptive parents, and the power of community.
Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary
by Sarah ShawSecret Diary of a 1970s Secretary is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank.Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.
Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary
by Sarah ShawSecret Diary of a 1970s Secretary is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank.Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.
Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary: Secret Diary Of A Bbc Secretary
by Sarah ShawSecret Diary of a 1970s Secretary is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank.Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.
Secret Diary of a 1970s Secretary: Secret Diary of a BBC Secretary
by Sarah ShawPortland Place is the diary of Sarah Shaw for the year of 1971, which she recently uncovered whilst clearing out her loft. Working as a secretary for the BBC at the time, Sarah's diary describes the life of a suburban girl who certainly wasn't 'swinging' but who was, ironically, not only working on a cutting edge BBC survey on sex education but also in the throes of an unlikely affair with middle-aged, working-class, Irish lift attendant, Frank.Sarah talks humorously and frankly about what it was like to be a young, working woman at the time as well as life at the BBC during the 1970s and the difficulties of navigating her first romance. She is funny and self-effacing with a self-knowledge that only few attain. Her innocence and naivety are hugely charming and the diary forms a valuable snapshot of a time not so far away that is now lost to us.
Secret Duties of a Signals Interceptor: Working with Bletchley Park, the SDS and the OSS
by Jenny NaterThis WWII memoir recounts a woman’s experience translating top-secret German communications for British intelligence.Like many British women on the homefront of World War II, Jenny Nater discovered an unexpected way to put her talents to use. She served as a bilingual wireless operator in the top-secret Special Duties service at Dover, intercepting traffic from German surface craft in the English Channel and reporting it back to Bletchley Park. In this memoir, Nater discusses this important work, as well as the life-changing relationships she made in that time—most notably with a Coastal Force Command Lieutenant who would be tragically lost. She also describes working in Germany for America’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It was during this time that she met her husband, a Mosquito pilot and member of the Caterpillar Club whose spy missions over occupied Europe are also described here in full.This memoir add an important layer to our understanding of allied intelligence practices during this conflict. They also tell the story of one woman’s very private war, and the opportunities, sacrifices, and victories it encompassed.
Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage
by Philip TaubmanThe espionage in space generated by the Cold War.
Secret Empires: How The American Political Class Hides Corruption And Enriches Family And Friends
by Peter SchweizerPeter Schweizer has been fighting corruption—and winning—for years. In Throw Them All Out, he exposed insider trading by members of Congress, leading to the passage of the STOCK Act. In Extortion, he uncovered how politicians use mafia-like tactics to enrich themselves. And in Clinton Cash, he revealed the Clintons’ massive money machine and sparked an FBI investigation. <P><P> Now he explains how a new corruption has taken hold, involving larger sums of money than ever before. Stuffing tens of thousands of dollars into a freezer has morphed into multibillion-dollar equity deals done in the dark corners of the world. <P><P> An American bank opening in China would be prohibited by US law from hiring a slew of family members of top Chinese politicians. However, a Chinese bank opening in America can hire anyone it wants. It can even invite the friends and families of American politicians to invest in can’t-lose deals. <P><P> President Donald Trump’s children have made front pages across the world for their dicey transactions. However, the media has barely looked into questionable deals made by those close to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Mitch McConnell, and lesser-known politicians who have been in the game longer. <P><P> In many parts of the world, the children of powerful political figures go into business and profit handsomely, not necessarily because they are good at it, but because people want to curry favor with their influential parents. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. But for relatives of some prominent political families, we may already be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. <P><P> Deeply researched and packed with shocking revelations, Secret Empires identifies public servants who cannot be trusted and provides a path toward a more accountable government.