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An Uncommon Woman: Empress Frederick, Daughter of Queen Victoria, Wife of the Crown Prince of Prussia, Mother of Kaiser Wilhelm
by Hannah PakulaA story of wars and revolutions, of the rise and fall of royal families, and of the birth of modern Germany is brilliantly told through the lives of the couple in the eye of the storm--Queen Victoria's eldest daughter, and her handsome, idealistic husband, Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia.
An Uncommon Woman: The Life of Lydia Hamilton Smith (Keystone Books)
by Mark KelleyLydia Hamilton Smith (1813–1884) was a prominent African American businesswoman in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the longtime housekeeper, life companion, and collaborator of the state’s abolitionist congressman Thaddeus Stevens. In his biography of this remarkable woman, Mark Kelley reveals how Smith served the cause of abolition, managed Stevens’s household, acquired property, and crossed racialized social boundaries.Born a free woman near Gettysburg, Smith began working for Stevens in 1844. Her relationship with Stevens fascinated and infuriated many, and it made Smith a highly recognizable figure both locally and nationally. The two walked side by side in Lancaster and in Washington, DC, as they worked to secure the rights of African Americans, sheltered people on the Underground Railroad, managed two households, raised her sons and his nephews, and built a real-estate business. In the last years of Stevens’s life, as his declining health threatened to short-circuit his work, Smith risked her own well-being to keep him alive while he led the drive to end slavery, impeach Andrew Johnson, and push for the ratification of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.An Uncommon Woman is a vital history that accords Lydia Hamilton Smith the recognition that she deserves. Every American should know Smith’s inspiring story.
An Uncomplicated Life
by Paul DaughertyA father's exhilarating and inspiring love letter to his daughter with Down syndrome, whose vibrant and infectious approach can teach us all how to live a little better"Jillian was born October 17, 1989. It was the last bad day."Jillian Daugherty was born with Down syndrome. The day her parents, Paul and Kerry, brought her home from the hospital, they were flooded with worry and uncertainty, but also with overwhelming love, which they channeled to "the job of building the better Jillian." They knew their daughter had special needs, but they refused to have her grow up needy. They were resolved that Jillian's potential would not be limited by preconceptions of who she was or what she could be.In this charming and often heart-stirring book, Paul tells stories about Jillian making her way through the world of her backyard and neighborhood, going to school in a "normal" classroom, learning to play soccer and ride a bike. As she grows older, he traces her journey to find happiness and purpose in her adult life, including vignettes about her inspiring triumphs and the guardian angels--teachers, neighbors, friends--who believed in Jillian and helped her become the exceptional young woman she is today.In An Uncomplicated Life, the parent learns as much about life from the child as the child does from the parent. Being with Jillian, Paul discovered the importance of every moment and the power of the human spirit--how we are each put here to benefit the other. Through her unmitigated love for others, her sparkling charisma, and her boundless capacity for joy, Jillian has inspired those around her to live better and more fully. As Paul writes, "Jillian is a soul map of our best intentions," a model of grace, happiness, and infectious enthusiasm. She embraces all that she is, all that she has--"I love my life. I just love my life," she says. In her uncomplicated life, we see the possibility, the hope, and the beauty of our own.
An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiog)
by Gad Beck Frank HeibertThat a Jew living in Nazi Berlin survived the Holocaust at all is surprising. That he was a homosexual and a teenage leader in the resistance and yet survived is amazing. But that he endured the ongoing horror with an open heart, with love and without vitriol, and has written about it so beautifully is truly miraculous. This is Gad Beck’s story.
An Unexpected Light
by José SaramagoNobel Prize winner José Saramago tells a quiet and poetic story, an excerpt from his book Small Memories, of a lasting childhood experience of simple, soulful joy.The narrator's memories of a lost childhood paradise focus on two glorious days when he helped his uncle take some piglets to the market in Santarém. They traverse dusty roads, sleep in a barn and awake to a miraculous moonglow, and hear the animals in their &“infinite conversations.&” The journey, the night, the wind, the light. . . . This poetic story is an unforgettable adventure narrated by José Saramago and presented alongside Armando Fonseca&’s fanciful and evocative illustrations.A very special gift for readers of all ages.
An Unexpected Miracle
by Jennifer De PippoThree days before her eighth birthday, Jennifer De Pippo was nearly killed in a car accident which claimed the life of her mother and left her with brain injuries so severe that the doctors said she would never walk or talk again. Join Jennifer as she describes the highs and lows of her life-long struggle to prove the doctors wrong, and to rebuild herself into a functioning, fun-loving and fast-thinking adult.Through sheer determination, Jennifer has succeeded in achieving what was considered impossible, turning every day of her life into an unexpected miracle.
An Unexplained Death: The True Story of a Body at the Belvedere
by Mikita BrottmanAn Unexplained Death is an obsessive investigation into a mysterious death at the Belvedere—a once-grand hotel—and a poignant, gripping meditation on suicide and voyeurism“The poster is new. I notice it right away, taped to a utility pole. Beneath the word ‘Missing,’ printed in a bold, high-impact font, are two sepia-toned photographs of a man dressed in a bow tie and tux.” Most people would keep walking. Maybe they’d pay a bit closer attention to the local news that evening. Mikita Brottman spent ten years sifting through the details of the missing man’s life and disappearance, and his purported suicide by jumping from the roof of her own apartment building, the Belvedere. As Brottman delves into the murky circumstances surrounding Rey Rivera’s death—which begins to look more and more like a murder—she contemplates the nature of and motives behind suicide, and uncovers a haunting pattern of guests at the Belvedere, when it was still a historic hotel, taking their own lives on the premises. Finally, she fearlessly takes us to the edge of her own morbid curiosity and asks us to consider our own darker impulses and obsessions.
An Unfinished Life: 1917-1963
by Robert DallekAn Unfinished Life is the first major, single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written by a historian in nearly four decades. Drawing upon previously unavailable material and never-before-opened archives to tell Kennedy's story. We learn for the first time just how sick Kennedy was, what medications he took and concealed from all but a few, and how severely his medical condition affected his actions as President. We learn for the first time the real story of how Bobby was selected as Attorney General. Dallek reveals exactly what Jack's father did to help his election to the presidency, and he follows previously unknown evidence to show what path JFK would have taken in the Vietnam entanglement had he survived. Dallek (LIFTS) JFK out of the gossips and back onto the world stage, showing that while he was the son of privilege, he faced great obstacles and fought on with remarkable courage. Never shying away from Kennedy's weaknesses, Dallek also brilliantly explores his strengths. The result is a portrait of a bold, brave, human Kennedy, once again a hero.
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
by Doris Kearns GoodwinThe #1 New York Times bestseller from &“America&’s historian-in-chief&” (New York magazine) An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin, one of America&’s most beloved historians, artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. She takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Richard (Dick) Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy&’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson&’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir. Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved. The Goodwins&’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested. Their expedition gave Dick&’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.
An Unfinished Marriage
by Joan AndersonIn a YEAR BY THE SEA Joan Anderson's brave decision to take a year off from her marriage, her frank assessment of herself at midlife and the fears and triumphs of going it alone struck a chord with women everywhere - and inspired many other women to find the courage to recreat their life. So when she sets out after her magical year of self-discovery to try to repair her marriage, the outcome is far from certain. Thriving on her newfound freedom and now fiercely independent, she must now adjust to sharing her new life. When Joan is incapacitated by a broken ankle, she at first resents her husband's clumsy attempts to take care of her and run the home without her. But, left to his own devices, he reveals an unexpectedly tender and resourceful side. They begin to create a tentative new partnership, seasoned by years of marriage but awakened to the exciting new possibilities of a future together. A unique and timely true story, An UNFINISHED MARRIAGE will provide shocks of recognition and fresh hope for anyone facing the challenges of finding freedom and happiness with someone else.
An Unfinished Season: A Novel
by Ward JustA young man comes of age in Eisenhower-era Chicago in this “stunning” Pulitzer Prize Finalist novel by the author of Echo House (USA Today).In An Unfinished Season, Ward Just evokes a city, an epoch, and a shift in ideals through the story of nineteen-year-old Wilson Ravan. In his summer before college, Wils finds himself straddling three worlds: the working-class newsroom where he’s landed a coveted job as a rookie reporter, the whirl of glittering North Shore debutante parties where he spends his nights, and the growing cold war between his parents at home. With unparalleled grace and incisive observation, Just brings Wils’s circle to radiant life. Through his finely wrought portraits of a father and son, young lovers, and newsroom dramas, Just also stirringly captures a seismic shift in American political life.WINNER OF THE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR FICTION“A master American novelist.” —Vanity Fair
An Unimaginable Act: Overcoming and Preventing Child Abuse Through Erin's Law
by Erin MerrynBy sharing her personal journey through the pain she has suffered at the hands of her perpetrators, author Erin Merryn proves that one person can make a difference in the lives of others. Simply by speaking out and bringing the subject of child sexual abuse to the forefront, she has created a wave of change—change not only in legislature, but also in the hearts of those around her and the world. In this thought-provoking book, readers will discover an in-depth, personal account of Erin's story and how—through using positive outlets—she was able to rebuild her life and heal from a childhood filled with sexual abuse. Part memoir, part resource guide, Erin shares with readers key organizations that provide essential support for victims and caregivers, warning signs that a child who is being abused might display, and why Erin's Law is so essential.
An Unladylike Profession: American Women War Correspondents in World War I
by Chris DubbsWhen World War I began, war reporting was a thoroughly masculine bastion of journalism. But that did not stop dozens of women reporters from stepping into the breach, defying gender norms and official restrictions to establish roles for themselves—and to write new kinds of narratives about women and war. Chris Dubbs tells the fascinating stories of Edith Wharton, Nellie Bly, and more than thirty other American women who worked as war reporters. As Dubbs shows, stories by these journalists brought in women from the periphery of war and made them active participants—fully engaged and equally heroic, if bearing different burdens and making different sacrifices. Women journalists traveled from belligerent capitals to the front lines to report on the conflict. But their experiences also brought them into contact with social transformations, political unrest, labor conditions, campaigns for women&’s rights, and the rise of revolutionary socialism. An eye-opening look at women&’s war reporting, An Unladylike Profession is a portrait of a sisterhood from the guns of August to the corridors of Versailles. Purchase the audio edition.
An Unlikely Friendship: A Novel of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley (Great Episodes Ser.)
by Ann RinaldiOn the night of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, his frantic wife, Mary, calls for her best friend and confidante, Elizabeth Keckley. But the woman is mistakenly kept from her side by guards who were unaware of Mary Todd Lincoln's close friendship with the black seamstress. With vivid detail and emotional power, Ann Rinaldi delves into the childhoods of two fascinating women who became devoted friends amid the turbulent times of the Lincoln administration. Includes an author's note, a reader's guide, and a bibliography.
An Unlikely Journey: Waking Up from My American Dream
by Julian CastroThe keynote speaker at the 2012 DNC, former San Antonio mayor and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro, tells his remarkable and inspiring life story. In the spirit of a young Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, comes a candid and compelling memoir about race and poverty in America. In many ways, there was no reason Julian Castro would have been expected to be a success. Born to unmarried parents in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of a struggling city, his prospects of escaping his circumstance seemed bleak. But he and his twin brother Joaquin had something going for them: their mother. A former political activist, she provided the launch pad for what would become an astonishing ascent. Julian and Joaquin would go on to attend Stanford and Harvard before entering politics at the ripe age of 26. Soon after, Joaquin become a state representative and Julian was elected mayor of San Antonio, a city he helped revitalize and transform into one of the country's leading economies. His success in Texas propelled him onto the national stage, where he was the keynote speaker at the 2012 DNC--the same spot President Obama held three conventions prior--and then to Washington D.C. where he served as the Obama Administration's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. After being shortlisted as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton, he is now seen by many as a future presidential candidate. Julian Castro's story not only affirms the American dream, but also resonates with millions, who in an age of political cynicism and hardening hearts are searching for a new hero. No matter one's politics, this book is the transcendent story of a resilient family and the unlikely journey of an emerging national icon.
An Unlikely Prince: The Life and Times of Machiavelli
by Niccolo CapponiIn this compelling new biography, historian Niccolò Capponi frees Machiavelli (1469-1527) from centuries of misinterpretation. Exploring the Renaissance city of Florence, where Machiavelli lived, Capponi reveals the man behind the legend. A complex portrait of Machiavelli emerges-at once a brilliantly skillful diplomat and a woefully inept liar; a sharp thinker and an impractical dreamer; a hardnosed powerbroker and a risk-taking gambler; a calculating propagandist and an imprudent jokester. Capponi’s intimate portrait of Machiavelli reveals his behavior as utterly un-Machiavellian, his vision of the world as limited by his very provincial outlook. In the end, Machiavelli was frustrated by his own political failures and utterly baffled by the success of his bookThe Prince.
An Unquenchable Thirst: A Memoir
by Mary JohnsonAn unforgettable spiritual autobiography about a search for meaning that begins alongside one of the great religious icons of our time and ends with a return to the secular world At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw Mother Teresa's face on the cover of Time and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later, she entered a convent in the South Bronx to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this bright, independent-minded Texas teenager eventually adapted to the sisters' austere life of poverty and devotion, and in time became close to Mother Teresa herself. Still, beneath the white and blue sari beat the heart of an ordinary young woman facing the struggles we all share--the desire for love and connection, meaning and identity. During her twenty years with the Missionaries of Charity, Sister Donata, as she was known, grappled with her faith, her sexuality, the politics of the order, and her complicated relationship with Mother Teresa. Eventually, she left the church to find her own path--one that led to love and herself.Provocative, profound, and emotionally charged, An Unquenchable Thirst presents a rare, privileged view of Mother Teresa. At the same time, it is a unique and magnificent memoir of self-discovery.From the Hardcover edition.
An Unreasonable Woman
by Diane WilsonWhen Diane Wilson, fourth-generation shrimp-boat captain and mother of five, learns that she lives in the most polluted county in the United States, she decides to fight back. She launches a campaign against a multibillion-dollar corporation that has been covering up spills, silencing workers, flouting the EPA, and dumping lethal ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride into the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. In an epic tale of bravery, Wilson takes her fight to the courts, to the gates of the chemical plant, and to the halls of power in Austin. Along the way she meets with scorn, bribery, character assassination, and death threats. Finally Wilson realizes that she must break the law to win justice: She resorts to nonviolent disobedience, direct action, and hunger strikes. Wilson's vivid South Texas dialogue resides somewhere between Alice Walker and William Faulkner, and her dazzling prose brings to mind the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, replete with dreams and prophecies.
An Unseemly Man: My Life as Pornographer, Pundit, and Social Outcast
by Larry FlyntControversial and outspoken, hated and adored, the infamous life of Larry Flynt needs no exaggeration to make it one of the most interesting stories of our time. The real events of Flynt's life are captured here—from his roots in Appalachia to the founding of Hustler magazine, from the shooting that left him confined to a wheelchair to his legal battles and First Amendment advocacy.
An Unspeakable Hope: Brutality, Forgiveness, and Building a Better Future for My Son
by Leon FordA &“powerful and insightful&” (Cyntoia Brown-Long, author of Free Cyntoia) memoir in the vein of Just Mercy and The Sum of Us that upends our understanding about the future of policing in the United States and explores how we can begin healing from systemic injustice.In 2012, nineteen-year-old Leon Ford was shot five times by a Pittsburgh police officer during a racially charged traffic stop stemming from a case of mistaken identity. When he woke up in the hospital, he was faced with two life-changing realities: he was a new father, and he was paralyzed from the waist down. Leon found the only way to move forward was to let go of his bitterness and learn to practice forgiveness. Now, in this memoir and manifesto, Leon illustrates how this harrowing experience has inspired a deep reckoning with the issues his community is facing, not only with police brutality, but also an epidemic of street violence, toxic masculinity and its impact on Black fatherhood, and the lack of disability rights and mental health access in disenfranchised communities. In the wake of countless similar shootings across the country, Leon details how he turned towards social activism, dedicating himself to bridging the gap between the police and the communities they are supposed to serve. With a voice filled with &“healing, triumph, and resilience&” (Shaka Senghor, bestselling author of Writing My Wrongs), Ford offers fresh, counterintuitive ways we can effect social change. Leon shows us how, together, we can move away from retribution and towards transformative justice in order to end police brutality and heal as a country. As he once said, &“Lead with love. Start compassionate conversations even with individuals and systems that have caused you pain. I know from experience that you can make your pain purposeful.&”
An Unspoken Art: Profiles of Veterinary Life
by Lee GutkindIn the tradition of James Herriot&’s All Creatures Great and Small, An Unspoken Art is Lee Gutkind&’s captivating look at the lives of veterinarians, from the zoos to the farmLee Gutkind, the godfather of creative nonfiction, explores with warmth and sincerity the worlds of modern-day veterinarians—from practitioners operating on Manhattan&’s Upper East Side to those working knee deep in mud in the English countryside. Gutkind profiles the men and women who have devoted their lives to the care of animals, almost all treating their patients with more humanity and compassion than physicians in human hospitals do. He writes of the people who do not bat an eye at sharing a bed with their dogs, and of those who spare no expense when it comes to the well-being of their pets.An Unspoken Art is an insightful look at the individuals who dedicate themselves to the care of creatures, and of the enduring bond between people and animals.
An Untold Story (The Roosevelts of Hyde Park)
by James Brough Elliott RooseveltRecently, I became increasingly perturbed over a twisting of facts which has led far too many people to regard Father as a cardboard puppet, manipulated by anyone with the urge to try, dependent on Mother for strength and wisdom. She, in turn, is looked upon as a latter-day Joan of Arc, incapable of error or sin. Neither portrait contains the faintest element of truth. Mother, whose idolaters are largely responsible for this mangling of the record of yesterday, would have been among the first to acknowledge that.
An XL Life: Staying Big at Half the Size
by Kurt AlexanderGrowing up homeless, fatherless and facing more than a few problems with gang violence and issues of self-worth, Big Boy managed to rise to the top of the hip-hop world and west-coast radio scene. For 33 years of Big Boy's life size didn't matter. As he reached the pinnacle of broadcasting he just kept piling on the pounds, and claiming award after award in radio. Right around this time he stepped on the scale and it read "510" pounds, celebrities took bets that he couldn't drop the weight. Choosing to put his career first, even when his life was on the line after opting for a radical surgical procedure, Big fought through the greatest struggle of his life. In this book the joke song-singing, crank call-making, celebrity interviewing, wise-cracking, all around hilarious, humongous black dude behind the wildly popular morning radio program Big Boy's Neighborhood shares everything he lived through and learned along the way.
An aide-de-camp of Napoleon. Memoirs of General Count de Ségur, of the French academy, 1800-1812
by Général Comte Phillipe-Paul de Ségur Comte Louis-Phillipe-Antoine-Charles de Ségur Mrs Harriette Anne Crookesley Patchett-MartinSeeing a regiment of Dragoons process through Paris in 1800, Philippe de Ségur decided to join the French cavalry at the ripe old age of 19, swiftly becoming part of Napoleon's headquarters staff. From then on, his career was to be unlike many of his contemporaries, for he was the son of a well-connected father and a protégé of Napoleon's confidante, Grand-Marshal Duroc. He saw service in all of the major Napoleonic campaigns, not just a courtier, distinguished in the crucible of the cavalry charge of Somosierra and also the battlefields of Hanau and Reims.For his service under Napoleon he was forced into retirement from the army and took to writing his memoirs and historical works. His scathing attack on Napoleon's conduct during the Russian campaign Histoire de Napoléon et de la grande armée pendant l'année 1812 provoked an uproar among Napoleonic loyalists and landed de Ségur in a duel. His further memoirs were published posthumously, a three volume account edited by his grandson, and this edited version was translated into English. Being at the hub of Napoleon's headquarters gave him the opportunity to see into most of the major events of the era and he recorded these with wit and an impressive eye for detail.These memoirs are a must for any enthusiast of the Napoleonic period.Author -- Général Comte Phillipe-Paul de Ségur, 1780-1873Editor - Comte Louis-Phillipe-Antoine-Charles de Ségur, b. 1838Translator - Mrs. Harriette Anne Crookesley Patchett-MartinText taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, D. Appleton and company, 1895.Original Page Count - xxvi, 440 p.
Anand: आनंद
by Madhu Shirgaonkar“आनंद” हे मधू शिरगांवकर लिखित एक आत्मकथात्मक पुस्तक आहे, ज्यात लेखकाने त्यांच्या जीवनातील विविध अनुभव आणि आत्मशोधाचा प्रवास उलगडला आहे. पुस्तकात लेखकाने आपल्या बालपणीच्या संघर्षांपासून ते जीवनात स्थिरता मिळवण्यापर्यंतच्या प्रवासाचे सखोल वर्णन केले आहे. त्यांच्या कुटुंबीयांशी असलेल्या नात्यांपासून ते करियरच्या क्षेत्रातील आव्हानांपर्यंतच्या अनुभवांमधून त्यांनी आनंद कसा शोधला हे मांडले आहे. पुस्तकाचा मुख्य आधार आहे की आनंद ही एक अंतर्गत अवस्था आहे, जी बाह्य परिस्थितींवर अवलंबून नसते. लेखकाने सांगितले आहे की जीवनातील साधेपणा, कृतज्ञता, आणि आत्मस्वीकृतीत खरा आनंद मिळतो. त्यांनी त्यांच्या अनुभवांमधून एक अशी जीवनदृष्टी मांडली आहे, जी वाचकांना जीवनातील समस्यांना सामोरे जाण्याची आणि त्यातून सकारात्मकता शोधण्याची प्रेरणा देते. “आनंद” हे पुस्तक आत्मशोधाच्या प्रवासावर आधारित असून, ते वाचकांना जीवनातील खरा आनंद कसा शोधता येईल याबाबत मार्गदर्शन करते. पुस्तकाच्या माध्यमातून मधू शिरगांवकर वाचकांना शिकवतात की जीवनातील आनंद कसा शोधायचा, स्वतःला आणि इतरांना कसे स्वीकारायचे, आणि कृतज्ञतेच्या भावनेने कसे जगायचे. हे पुस्तक वाचकांना जीवनाकडे सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोनाने पाहण्याची प्रेरणा देते आणि जीवनात खरा आनंद शोधण्याचा मार्ग दाखवते.