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Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story
by Peter GuberToday everyone -- whether they know it or not -- is in the emotional transportation business. More and more, success is won by creating compelling stories that have the power to move partners, shareholders, customers, and employees to action. Simply put, if you can't tell it, you can't sell it. And this book tells you how to do both. Historically, stories have always been igniters of action, moving people to do things. But only recently has it become clear that purposeful stories -- those created with a specific mission in mind -- are absolutely essential in persuading others to support a vision, dream or cause. Peter Guber, whose executive and entrepreneurial accomplishments have made him a success in multiple industries, has long relied on purposeful story telling to motivate, win over, shape, engage and sell. Indeed, what began as knack for telling stories as an entertainment industry executive has, through years of perspiration and inspiration, evolved into a set of principles that anyone can use to achieve their goals. In Tell to Win, Guber shows how to move beyond soulless Power Point slides, facts, and figures to create purposeful stories that can serve as powerful calls to action. Among his techniques: *Capture your audience's attention first, fast and foremost *Motivate your listeners by demonstrating authenticity *Build your tell around what's in it for them *Change passive listeners into active participants *Use state-of-the-heart technology online and offline to make sure audience commitment remains strong. To validate the power of telling purposeful stories, Guber includes in this book a remarkably diverse number of voices -- master tellers with whom he's shared experiences. They include YouTube founder Chad Hurley, NBA champion Pat Riley, clothing designer Normal Kamali, Mission to Mars scientist Gentry Lee, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, former South African president Nelson Mandela, magician David Copperfield, film director Steven Spielberg, novelist Nora Roberts, rock legend Gene Simmons, and physician and author Deepak Chopra. After listening to this extraordinary mix of voices, you'll know how to craft, deliver -- and own -- a story that is truly compelling, one capable of turning others into viral advocates for your goal.
Telling Secrets
by Frederick BuechnerWith eloquence, candor, and simplicity, a celebrated author tells the story of his father's alcohol abuse and suicide and traces the influence of this secret on his life as a son, father, husband, minister, and writer.
Telling Stories, Writing Songs: An Album of Texas Songwriters
by Kathleen HudsonWillie Nelson, Joe Ely, Marcia Ball, Tish Hinojosa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lyle Lovett . . . the list of popular songwriters from Texas just goes on and on. In this collection of thirty-four interviews with these and other songwriters, Kathleen Hudson pursues the stories behind the songs, letting the singers' own words describe where their songs come from and how the diverse, eclectic cultures, landscapes, and musical traditions of Texas inspire the creative process. Conducted in dance halls, dressing rooms, parking lots, clubs-wherever the musicians could take time to tell their stories-the interviews are refreshingly spontaneous and vivid. Hudson draws out the songwriters on such topics as the sources of their songs, the influence of other musicians on their work, the progress of their careers, and the nature of Texas music. Many common threads emerge from these stories, while the uniqueness of each songwriter becomes equally apparent. To round out the collection, Hudson interviews Larry McMurtry and Darrell Royal for their perspectives as longtime friends and fans of Texas musicians. She also includes a brief biography and discography of each songwriter.
Telling Stories: Philip Guston's Later Works
by David KaufmannGuston was best known for abstract work and cartoons. In this book, the author follows the development of his painting from the early 1960s until the artist's death in 1980 and explores his intense and complicated relationship to Judaism.
Telling Stories: Photographs of The Fall
by Kevin Cummins'No one has captured the look of alternative UK music over the past half a century more tellingly than Kevin Cummins.' - Simon Armitage'Kevin Cummins is a true master in being able to capture the essence of music, the soul of the band. Whatever he does however he does it is a mystery to me but it's pure genius.' - Rankin'Few photographers had such a close connection to The Fall as Manchester-based Kevin Cummins, and his new book, Telling Stories, is a rich visual history of one of the city's most beloved and enduring bands.' - Record Collector Magazine 'Kevin has the uncanny ability of capturing the inner mood of musicians. Be it the dynamics within a pensive Joy Division, or the sense surrounding the fledgeling Fall that something special was around the corner for us all. Kevin's book is nothing less than a remarkable document of a bewildering and defiant anti-fashion movement born in Prestwich, north Manchester in the grimy mid-70s.' - Marc Riley'Capturing forty years of the band's career via his archive, the legendary photographer (whose recent book, Juvenes, documented the story of Joy Division) gives his take on the phenomenon of The Fall and the late, great Mark E. Smith.' - Vive le Rock Contains never-before-seen images.Foreword by Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate. From chaotic early gigs to their final years, NME photographer Kevin Cummins provides a definitive, unique perspective on cult favourites The Fall. In this stunning visual history spanning four decades, discover how and why they emerged as one of the most innovative, boundary-breaking bands in modern music.With a foreword by Poet Laureate and Fall fan Simon Armitage and an interview with Eleni Poulou, as well as never-before-seen images from Cummins' archive, this is the ultimate visual companion to The Fall.
Telling Stories: Photographs of The Fall
by Kevin Cummins'No one has captured the look of alternative UK music over the past half a century more tellingly than Kevin Cummins.' - Simon Armitage'Kevin Cummins is a true master in being able to capture the essence of music, the soul of the band. Whatever he does however he does it is a mystery to me but it's pure genius.' - Rankin'Few photographers had such a close connection to The Fall as Manchester-based Kevin Cummins, and his new book, Telling Stories, is a rich visual history of one of the city's most beloved and enduring bands.' - Record Collector Magazine 'Kevin has the uncanny ability of capturing the inner mood of musicians. Be it the dynamics within a pensive Joy Division, or the sense surrounding the fledgeling Fall that something special was around the corner for us all. Kevin's book is nothing less than a remarkable document of a bewildering and defiant anti-fashion movement born in Prestwich, north Manchester in the grimy mid-70s.' - Marc Riley'Capturing forty years of the band's career via his archive, the legendary photographer (whose recent book, Juvenes, documented the story of Joy Division) gives his take on the phenomenon of The Fall and the late, great Mark E. Smith.' - Vive le Rock Contains never-before-seen images.Foreword by Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate. From chaotic early gigs to their final years, NME photographer Kevin Cummins provides a definitive, unique perspective on cult favourites The Fall. In this stunning visual history spanning four decades, discover how and why they emerged as one of the most innovative, boundary-breaking bands in modern music.With a foreword by Poet Laureate and Fall fan Simon Armitage and an interview with Eleni Poulou, as well as never-before-seen images from Cummins' archive, this is the ultimate visual companion to The Fall.
Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History
by Mary Jo MaynesMary Jo Maynes, Jennifer L. Pierce, and Barbara Laslett argue that personal narratives--autobiographies, oral histories, life history interviews, and memoirs--are an important research tool for understanding the relationship between people and their societies. Gathering examples from throughout the world and from premodern as well as contemporary cultures, they draw from labor history and class analysis, feminist sociology, race relations, and anthropology to demonstrate the value of personal narratives for scholars and students alike. Telling Stories explores why and how personal narratives should be used as evidence, and the methods and pitfalls of their use. The authors stress the importance of recognizing that stories that people tell about their lives are never simply individual. Rather, they are told in historically specific times and settings and call on rules, models, and social experiences that govern how story elements link together in the process of self-narration. Stories show how individuals' motivations, emotions, and imaginations have been shaped by their cumulative life experiences. In turn, Telling Stories demonstrates how the knowledge produced by personal narrative analysis is not simply contained in the stories told; the understanding that takes place between narrator and analyst and between analyst and audience enriches the results immeasurably.
Telling Young Lives: Portraits of Global Youth
by Craig Jeffrey Jane DysonTelling Young Lives presents more than a dozen fascinating, ethnographically informed portraits of young people facing rapid changes in society and politics from different parts of the world. From a young woman engaged in agricultural labour in the High Himalayas to a youth activist based in Tanzania, the distinctive voices from the U. K. , India, Germany, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Bosnia Herzegovina, provide insights into the active and creative ways these youths are addressing social and political challenges such as war, hunger and homelessness. Telling Young Lives has great appeal for classroom use in geography courses and makes a welcome contribution to the growing field of "young geographies," as well as to politics and political geography. Its focus on individual portraits gives readers a fuller, more vivid picture of the ways in which global changes are reshaping the actual experiences and strategies of young people around the world.
Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups
by James E. Birren Kathryn N. CochranTelling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups, based on James Birren's 25 years of conducting autobiography groups, discusses all the topics an organizer faces while developing a program for adults who want to recall and write down their life histories. This book is ideal for adult education programs, church groups, social workers, psychologists, gerontologists, and others who work with adults who might be interested in exploring, recording, or sharing their personal histories. It helps professionals and trained workshop leaders at community centers, senior centers, schools and other settings guide group participants in exploring major themes of their lives so that they can organize and write their stories and share them in a group with others on the same journey. This exercise is rewarding for adults of any age in a period of transition or with interest in gaining insight from their own stories. Personal development and a feeling of connection to other participants and their stories is a natural outcome of this process. This book provides background material and detailed lesson plans for those who wish to develop and lead an autobiography group.The authors explain the concept of guided autobiography, discuss the benefits to the group participants, and provide logistical information on how to plan, organize, and set up a group. An appendix provides exercises, handouts, and suggested adaptations for specific groups. The book also explains a systematic method of priming memories, including the history of family and of one's life work, the role of money, health and the body, and ideas about death.At a time when rapid change has created a widespread yearning to write down and exchange personal accounts, sharing life stories can reveal a great deal about how we have come to be the persons we are. Telling the Stories of Life through Guided Autobiography Groups shows how to organize, record, and share life experiences through a proven and effective technique.
Telling: A Memoir of Rape and Recovery
by Patricia Weaver FranciscoShe invites the reader into her life and into the questions raised by a crime with no obvious solutions or easy answers. We see the dimensions of a human struggle often kept hidden from view. While there are an estimated twelve million rape survivors in the United States, rape is still unspeakable, left out of our personal and cultural conversation. In Telling, Francisco has found a language for the secret grief carried by men and women who have survived rape.
Telling: Confessions, Concessions, and Other Flashes of Light
by Marion WinikCombining the insight of Anna Quindlen and the comic storytelling of Garrison Keillor with her own singularly outrageous humor, Marion Winik has captivated thousands of listeners on NPR's All Things Considered. Now, in Telling, she takes us on a journey both personal and universal, a tour of the minefield of chance and circumstance that make up a life. Along the way, she offers razor-sharp takes on everything from adolescence in suburban New Jersey ("Yes, I wanted to be a wild teenage rebel, but I wanted to do it with my parents' blessing") to hellish houseguests and bad-news boyfriends; from the joys of breastfeeding in public to the sometimes-salvation of motherhood. Candid, passionate, and breathtakingly funny, Marion Winik maintains an unshaken belief that following one's heart is more important than following the rules -- and a conviction that the secrets we try to hide often contain the deepest truths. "A born iconoclast, an aspiring artiste, a feminist vegetarian prodigal daughter, from early youth I considered myself destined to lead a startling life far outside the bounds of convention. I would be famous, dangerous, brilliant and relentlessly cool: a sort of cross between Emma Goldman, Jack Kerouac, and Georgia O'Keeffe. . . . So where did this station wagon come from?"
Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story
by Dean-David SchillingerIn this illuminating work, a doctor and public health advocate reveals what his patients have taught him about patience and healing. For over three decades, Dr. Dean-David Schillinger has served in one of the country&’s busiest and most important public hospitals. A public health leader and primary care physician for underserved patients, Schillinger learned that high-tech tests and novel medications are often not enough to save lives. Rather, accurate diagnosis, treatment and true healing come from listening deeply to patients and their stories. In Telltale Hearts, Schillinger reveals what is lost when patients&’ stories are ignored or overlooked, and how much is gained when these stories are actively elicited. The stories themselves, at times shocking and always revelatory, disclose secrets, prompt awe, forge unexpected connections, and even catalyze public health action.Telltale Hearts serves as a call to action, urging us to reshape public policy to improve the nation's health.
Temas lentos
by Alan PaulsAmplia recopilación de textos sobre arte, cine y literatura que incluyen diarios de viaje, crónicas, conferencias, columnas de opinión, prólogos, intervenciones periodísticas leídos y publicados en diversos espacios y medios de España y Latinoamérica durante dos décadas, desde fines de los años 90. Como esas embriagantes versiones en español de las baladas románticas premiadas en San Remo o Viña, estos Temas lentos, elegantes y sensuales, captan con la crítica, el diario íntimo o la viñeta satírica las modulaciones de las vanguardias (Duchamp y Warhol, ¡claro!, pero también Aira y Bolaño, Brecht y Beckett...) aplicadas a cuestiones pedestres: la orfandad, el inverosímil costumbrista de una Alemania costera, la impotencia de no encanecer con la llamarada nívea de Jarmusch o el desguace procaz de las palabras "albergue" y "alojamiento" con que se disfraza a los hoteles de citas... Del mismo modo que con la ortodoxia arquitectónica de un encuentro sexual, Pauls encuentra en el lenguaje siempre una pista, una huella, un hueco para compartir con sus lectores el éxtasis del voyeur. La crítica ha dicho... «Con una prosa elegante y perturbadora, Temas lentos traduce la curiosidad, las ideas fijas y la compulsión analítica de un escritor capaz de descifrar con rigor tanto las obras de Borges, Duchamp, Bolaño o Jean-Luc Godard como la noción del tiempo en la ciudad de Brasilia, el placer de manejar autos alquilados o las desdichas universales de las tardes de domingo.»El boomeran(g) «La entrada, una mera descripción, un apunte del autor, es al tiempo una buena manera de leer Temas lentos, una exploración que se revitaliza en cada vuelta de página y que puede ser pensada como el mosaico del pensamiento paulsiano, siempre atravesado por más de una hipótesis de lectura. Ya sea de manera lineal o azarosa, juguetona o ceñuda, el rastreo de los textos del libro impone una lógica audaz, empuja a un compromiso con los tópicos, a un entrecruzamiento de nombres, concepciones, análisis, curiosidades y atravesamientos.»Revista Ñ «El escritor argentino demuestra prodigio de soltura e inteligencia para tratar asuntos de alta y baja cultura.»Revista Paula
Temperaments: Memoirs of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Other Artists
by Dan HofstadterIn these five profiles, four of which originally appeared in the New Yorker, the author evokes the life and work of seven gifted artists. Among those presented, often through lively conversations, are Jean Hélion, Mark Rothko, R.B. Kitaj, and Dennis Creffield. Chief among those portrayed however is Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004), the great French photographer and photojournalist who, famed for dodging contact with the press, is here sketched in rare and fond detail. Of all these artists, only two still live: what emerges from this book is a picture, often bizarre, often hilarious, of a bygone bohemian world.
Temperance Creek: A Memoir
by Teresa Jordan Pamela RoyesIn the early seventies, some of us were shot like stars from our parents' homes. This was an act of nature, bigger than ourselves. In the austere beauty and natural reality of Hell's Canyon of Eastern Oregon, one hundred miles from pavement, Pam, unable to identify with her parent's world and looking for deeper pathways has a chance encounter with returning Vietnam warrior Skip Royes. Skip, looking for a bridge from survival back to connection, introduces Pam to the vanishing culture of the wandering shepherd and together they embark on a four-year sojourn into the wilderness. From the back of a horse, Pam leads her packstring of readers from overlook to water crossing, down trails two thousand years old, and from the vantages she chooses for us, we feel the edges of our own experiences. It is a memoir of falling in love with a place and a man and the price extracted for that love.Written with deep lyricism, Temperance Creek is a work of haunting beauty, fresh and irreverent and rooted in the grit and pleasure of daily life. This is Pam's story, but the courage and truth in the telling is part of our human experience. Seen through a slower more primary mirror, one not so crowded with objectivity, Pam's memoir, is a kind of home-coming, a family reunion for shooting stars.
Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker (Garnet Books)
by Susan CampbellThe “fascinating, forgotten story” of a daughter of a renowned American family—a suffragette and spiritualist who shocked New England society (Debby Applegate, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher).Older sister Harriet Beecher Stowe was the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Brother Henry Ward Beecher was one of the nation’s most influential ministers. Their sibling Catharine Beecher wrote pivotal works on women’s rights and educational reform. And then there was Isabella Beecher Hooker— “a curiously modern nineteenth-century figure.” Tempest-Tossed is the first full biography of the passionate, fascinating youngest daughter of the “Fabulous Beechers” —one of America’s most high-powered families of the time. She was a leader in the suffrage movement, and a mover and shaker in Hartford, Connecticut’s storied Nook Farm neighborhood and salon. But there is more to the story—to Isabella’s character—than that.An ardent spiritualist, Isabella could be off-putting, perplexing, tenacious, or charming in daily life. Many found her daunting to get to know and stay on comfortable terms with. Her “wild streak” was especially unfavorable in the eyes of Hartford society at the time, which valued restraint and duty. In this book, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Susan Campbell brings her own unique blend of empathy and unbridled humor to the story of Harriet’s younger half-sister and her evolution from orthodox Calvinist daughter, wife, and mother to one of the most influential players in the suffrage movement, where this unforgettable woman finally gets her proper due.
Templar Silks
by Elizabeth ChadwickFrom New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick comes another long-awaited novel about William Marshall, The Greatest Knight. To save his soul, young knight William Marshall takes the perilous road to Jerusalem, but the greatest danger he faces there is losing his heart. William Marshal, England's greatest knight, begins a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his brother, Ancel — a perilous journey that will have lasting impact for the rest of his life. William and Ancel become embroiled in the deadly politics of Jerusalem, devious scheming and lusts of the powerful men and women who rule the kingdom. Becoming entangled with the dangerous, mercurial Pascia de Riveri, concubine of the highest churchman in the land, William treads a path so dangerous that there seems no way back for him, or Ancel. Both will pay a terrible price, and their only chance to see home again will depend upon the Templars and two silk shrouds. In this glorious adventure, bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick sweeps the reader to medieval Jerusalem in a story perfect for fans of Ken Follett and Philippa Gregory.
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World
by Temple Grandin Sy MontgomeryWhen Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew that she was different. Years later she was diagnosed with autism. While Temple's doctor recommended a hospital, her mother believed in her. Temple went to school instead. Today, Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Her world-changing career revolutionized the livestock industry. As an advocate for autism, Temple uses her experience as an example of the unique contributions that autistic people can make. This compelling biography complete with Temple's personal photos takes us inside her extraordinary mind and opens the door to a broader understanding of autism.
Temple Grandin: Voice for the Voiceless
by Annette WoodSince Temple Grandin's life story was told in the 15 x Emmy-nominated film Temple Grandin, and since her heartwarming speech at the award ceremony, she has become one of the world's most well-known members of its community. In this fascinating biography, Annette Wood delves deep into Grandin's life from childhood to adulthood. Wood tells of the trials and tribulations of the icon: What difficulties Grandin struggled with and how she's become a hero for the autistic community. She also tells what Temple has done since the movie came out, where she is today, what kind of difference she's made, and what her future holds. For the 22 million people worldwide afflicted by autism and the countless friends and family members who support them, this brilliant portrait presents an up-close look at the disorder and renewed hope for what the future could bring for those on all levels of the spectrum.
Temple Stream: A Rural Odyssey
by Bill RoorbachI call the stream ours because our house is in its valley and a corner of our land touches the stream at a dramatic bend, and because my wife and our daughter (always in the company of our dogs) walk down to that bend every morning, every season. The stream is our point of contact with all the waters of the world. Great blue herons, yellow birches, damselflies, and beavers are among the many runes by which Bill Roorbach discovers a universe of nature along the stream that runs by his home in Farmington, Maine. Populated by an oddball cast of characters to whom the generous-spirited Roorbach (aka "The Professor") and his family might always be outsiders, these pages chronicle one man's determination - sometimes with hilarious results - to follow his stream directly to its elusive source. Acclaimed essayist as well as award-winning author of fiction, Bill Roorbach brings his singular literary gifts to a book that is inspirational, funny, loving, and filled with the wonder of living side by side with the natural world. Praise for Bill Roorbach "Roorbach falls, for me, into that small category of writers whose every book I must read, then reread. " --Jay Parini, author of The Apprentice Lover "Here is a narrator who makes you glad to be alive, giddy to be in his presence, grateful to love friends and family and dogs with generosity and abandon, to show tenderness and thus be saved by strangers. " --Melanie Rae Thon, author of First, Body "Roorbach is a master at capturing and expressing joy. " --Hartford Courant "Roorbach has a knack for tapping into deep undercurrents and bringing them to the surface with the least amount of fanfare or fuss. " --L. A. Weekly From the Hardcover edition.
Temple of the Scapegoat: Opera Stories
by Alexander Kluge Donna Stonecipher Isabel ColeRevolving around the opera, these tales are an “archaeological excavation of the slag-heaps of our collective existence” (W. G. Sebald) Combining fact and fiction, each of the one hundred and two tales of Alexander Kluge’s Temple of the Scapegoat (dotted with photos of famous operas and their stars) compresses a lifetime of feeling and thought: Kluge is deeply engaged with the opera and an inventive wellspring of narrative notions. The titles of his stories suggest his many turns of mind: “Total Commitment,” “Freedom,” “Reality Outrivals Theater,” “The Correct Slowing-Down at the Transitional Point Between Terror and an Inkling of Freedom,” “A Crucial Character (Among Persons None of Whom Are Who They Think They Are),” and “Deadly Vocal Power vs. Generosity in Opera.” An opera, Kluge says, is a blast furnace of the soul, telling of the great singer Leonard Warren who died onstage, having literally sung his heart out. Kluge introduces a Tibetan scholar who realizes that opera “is about comprehension and passion. The two never go together. Passion overwhelms comprehension. Comprehension kills passion. This appears to be the essence of all operas, says Huang Tse-we.” He also comes to understand that female roles face the harshest fates: “Compared to the mass of soprano victims (out of 86,000 operas, 64,000 end with the death of the soprano), the sacrifice of tenors is small (out of 86,000 operas 1,143 tenors are a write-off).”
Temporary Crusaders [Illustrated Edition]
by Captain Norman Cecil Sommers DownIncludes World War One In The Desert Illustration Pack- 92 photos/illustrations and 19 maps spanning the Desert campaigns 1914-1918"This book, published in 1919, was compiled from the edited diary entries kept by Down while serving in Palestine with the 14th Black Watch (74th Dismounted Yeomanry Division)."In November 1917 Down took a draft of soldiers from France to Palestine and himself joined the 14th Black Watch Battalion, part of the forces advancing through Palestine against the Turks."Jerusalem had been captured but the fighting continued through difficult and mountainous countryside and in often very poor weather conditions. The battalion was predominantly involved in road making (pp. 61; 79) and support duties until the spring of 1918 when they went into the front line where Down was wounded in April. His entries continue in the bright witty style of the letters - though perhaps with a little less sparkle - and he describes entertainingly the soldiers view of the Holy Land. He is much impressed by the beauty of the countryside but has little complimentary to say of the people (p. 52) or of the Turkish soldiers they encounter (p. 83)"He concludes this volume with a description of Cairo and Alexandria where he was sent for treatment and convalescence and finally with his return to the BEF in France in June 1918."-IWM
Temporary Heroes [Illustrated Edition]
by Captain Norman Cecil Sommers DownIncludes The First World War On The Somme Illustration Pack - 110 photos and illustrations and 31 maps.“This book, published in 1917, was compiled from letters written to his fiancée while serving in France and Belgium February 1915 to July 1916 with the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders. Down was commissioned into the Gordon Highlanders, a Territorial Battalion, in September 1914 and they formed part of the 8th Brigade, 3rd Division in Belgium in 1915.“The Battalion served mainly in the Ypres Salient throughout 1915 and Down’s letters contain vivid accounts of the actions in which they took part (pp. 52-60); (pp. 75-80). For prolonged periods they were in the front line and, despite the humour of Down’s letters, the appalling conditions and experiences come through clearly. His style of writing is lively and very easy to read and his accounts of life in the trenches and particularly in rest camp are witty and entertaining. He particularly brings irreverent wit to bear on the "brass hats" (pp. 98; 104) - comments which were almost always censored in the published version.“The battalion greatly appreciated a spell in front line trenches, opposite a Saxon battalion where a semi truce had been unofficially (p. 84) declared but on the whole the battalion suffered, particularly from the weather.”Down spent several months as bombing officer to the 8th Brigade, becoming one of the "brass hats" (p. 117), and he remained with 8th Brigade after the Gordon Highlanders transferred to form part of the 51st Highland Division.“In April 1916 the 51st moved to the Somme and Down rejoined his own battalion there briefly before being posted to a month’s course at the Infantry School from which he witnessed the progress of the "Big Push" (p. 231). Down was wounded in late July during the Offensive and returned to hospital in England.”-IWM
Temporary Heroes: Lieutenant Norman Cecil Down
by Richard van EmdenThis is a short book based on the letters written between 1915 and 1916 by an officer serving with the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders. Second Lieutenant Down wrote regularly to his girlfriend/fiance throughout his time in France, letters which were published in 1917 after he was wounded and discharged from the army. Cecil Down is a superb writer, but more than that he has a natural wit that translates easily to the page, making this one of the most enjoyable books I have read on the war.I have chosen this book because it is so different from anything else I have read. He captures life in France with great accuracy while remaining steadfastly upbeat and humorous. Nevertheless, there are moments when he is serious, and that makes his words poignant and attention-grabbing.Norman went to France in February 1915, serving continuously until July 1916. He died on 14 March 1984 aged 91
Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction
by David KuoFrom the Book Jacket: Kuo spent nearly three years as second in command at the president's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Yet his experience was deeply troubling. It took both the Bush White House and a severe health crisis to show him how his Christian values, and those of millions of Americans, were being corrupted by politics. Instead of following the teachings of Jesus to serve the needy, Kuo found himself helping to manipulate religious faith for political gain. Public funds were used in battleground states, for Republican campaign events. The legislative process was used as a football, not to pass laws but to deepen purely symbolic fault lines. Grants were incestuously recycled to political cronies. Both before and after 9/11, despite lofty rhetoric from the president claiming that his faith-based program was one of his most important initiatives, there was no serious attempt to fund valuable charities. Worst of all was the prevailing attitude in the White House and throughout Washington toward Christian leaders. Key Bush aides and Republican operatives spoke of them with contempt and treated them as useful idiots. It became clear, during regular conference calls arranged from the White House with a key group of Christian leaders, that many of these religious leaders had themselves been utterly seduced by politics. It is time, Kuo argues, for Christians to take a temporary step back from politics, to turn away from its seductions. Tempting Faith is equal parts headline-making exposé, political and spiritual memoir, and heartfelt plea for a Christian reexamination of political involvement. David Kuo served as Special Assistant to the President under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. He has worked for numerous conservative leaders, including John Ashcroft, William Bennett, Jack Kemp, Bob Dole, and Ralph Reed. He is the author of the Good Morning America Book Club selection Dot.Coming: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath. He currently serves as the Washington editor of the Beliefnet Web site.