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The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists
by Jessica Anya Blau Tracy WalderA highly entertaining account of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA, where she hunted terrorists and WMDs"A thrilling tale...Walder’s fast-paced and intense narrative opens a window into life in two of America’s major intelligence agencies" —Publishers Weekly (starred review)When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder's tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical terrorists and searched the world for Weapons of Mass Destruction. She created a chemical terror chart that someone in the White House altered to convey information she did not have or believe, leading to the Iraq invasion. Driven to stop terrorism, Walder debriefed terrorists—men who swore they’d never speak to a woman—until they gave her leads. She followed trails through North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, shutting down multiple chemical attacks.Then Walder moved to the FBI, where she worked in counterintelligence. In a single year, she helped take down one of the most notorious foreign spies ever caught on American soil. Catching the bad guys wasn’t a problem in the FBI, but rampant sexism was. Walder left the FBI to teach young women, encouraging them to find a place in the FBI, CIA, State Department or the Senate—and thus change the world.
The Unexpurgated Beaton
by Cecil Beaton Hugo VickersCecil Beaton was one of the great twentieth-century tastemakers. A photographer, artist, writer and designer for more than fifty years, he was at the center of the worlds of fashion, society, theater and film. The Unexpurgated Beaton brings together for the first time the never-before-published diaries from 1970 to 1980 and, unlike the six slim volumes of diaries published during his lifetime, these have been left uniquely unedited. Hugo Vickers, the executor of Beaton's estate and the author of his acclaimed biography, has added extensive and fascinating notes that are as lively as the diary entries themselves. As one London reviewer wrote, "Vickers' waspish footnotes are the salt on the side of the dish." Beaton treated his other published diaries like his photographs, endlessly retouching them, but, for this volume, Vickers went back to the original manuscripts to find the unedited diaries. Here is the photographer for British and American Vogue, designer of the sets and costumes for the play and film My Fair Lady and the film Gigi, with a cast of characters from many worlds: Bianca Jagger, Greta Garbo, David Hockney, Truman Capote, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich, Rose Kennedy and assorted Rothschilds, Phippses and Wrightsmans; in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, Rio and Greece, on the Amalfi coast; at shooting parties in the English countryside, on yachts, at garden parties at Buckingham Palace, at costume balls in Venice, Paris or London. Beaton had started as an outsider and "developed the power to observe, first with his nose pressed up against the glass," and then later from within inner circles. Vickers has said, "his eagle eye missed nothing," and his diaries are intuitive, malicious (he took a "relish in hating certain figures"), praising and awestruck. Truman Capote once said "the camera will never be invented that could capture or encompass all that he actually sees." The Unexpurgated Beaton is a book that is not only a great read and wicked fun but a timeless chronicle of our age.From the Hardcover edition.
The Unfamiliar Garden: The Comet Cycle Book 2 (The Comet Cycle #2)
by Benjamin PercyFrom award-winning author Benjamin Percy comes the second novel in his grippingly original sci-fi series, The Comet Cycle, in which a passing comet has caused irreversible change to the growth of fungi, spawning a dangerous, invasive species in the Pacific Northwest that threatens to control the lives of humans and animals alike.It began with a comet. They called it Cain, a wandering star that passed by Earth, illuminating the night with a swampy green light and twinning the sky by day with two suns. A year later, Earth spun through the debris field the comet left behind. Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of meteors plummeted into the atmosphere, destroying swaths of electrical grids, leaving shores of beaches filled with deceased sea life, and setting acres of land ablaze. It was then, they say, that the sky fell. It was then that Jack lost Mia.Five years after the disappearance of his daughter, Jack has fallen. Once an accomplished professor of botany, he's now a shell of a man who has all but withdrawn from life. Nora, his ex-wife, has thrown herself into her investigative work. Separately, they have each bandaged over the hole Mia left behind.Just as Jack is uncovering a new form of deadly parasitic fungus in his lab, Nora is assigned to investigate the cases of ritualistic murders dotting Seattle. The rituals consist of etchings - crosshatches are carved into bodies and eyes are scooped out of their sockets. The attackers appear to be possessed.It only takes a moment - for a sickness to infect, for a person to be killed, for a child to be lost. When Nora enlists Jack to identify the cause of this string of vicious deaths, Jack is quick to help. Together, they fight to keep their moments - the unexpected laughter, the extraordinary discoveries, the chance that Mia could come back home - but they find that what they're up against defies all logic, and what they have to do to save the world will change every life forever.(P) 2022 HarperCollins Publishers
The Unfamiliar: A Queer Motherhood Memoir
by Kirsty LoganAn unconventional, unexpectedly funny, brutally honest memoir about infertility, pregnancy and motherhood'You and your partner want a baby. But your two bodies can't make a baby together.' If you want a baby but your body says otherwise - If you don't know the polite way to say thank you for the sperm - If you're waiting for the sound of a brand-new heartbeat - If you know it takes a village to raise a baby but have no idea who should be doing what -If you're lurching between bliss and bewilderment - If you don't fit the shape of what you've been told a mother should be - Reach for The Unfamiliar and don't let go. Moving and immersive, and written with wisdom, disarming humour and raw honesty, The Unfamiliar casts a fresh eye on motherhood and challenges our assumptions about pregnancy, gender roles, queer identity and what it means to be a parent.'Cold, hard, raw writing that somehow sets your heart on fire' LAURA DOCKRILL'Fierce, honest, beautifully written... A marvel' PRAGYA AGARWAL'Kirsty Logan writes with bright wit and wonder - I read this book in awe' DOIREANN NÍ GHRÍOFA'Wonderful... Luminous writing captures the uncertainty, the fear, the sheer physicality of love' MARIANNE LEVY
The Unfathomable Ascent: How Hitler Came to Power
by Peter Ross RangeThe chilling and little-known story of Adolf Hitler's eight-year march to the pinnacle of German politics.On the night of January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler leaned out of a spotlit window of the Reich chancellery in Berlin, bursting with joy. The moment seemed unbelievable, even to Hitler. After an improbable political journey that came close to faltering on many occasions, his march to power had finally succeeded.While the path of Hitler's rise has been told in books covering larger portions of his life, no previous work has focused solely on his eight-year climb to rule: 1925-1933. Renowned author Peter Ross Range brings this period back to startling life with a narrative history that describes brushes with power, quests for revenge, nonstop electioneering, American-style campaign tactics, and-for Hitler-moments of gloating triumph followed by abject humiliation.Indeed, this is the tale of a high-school dropout's climb from the infamy of a failed coup to the highest office in Europe's largest country. It is a saga of personal growth and lavish living, a melodrama rife with love affairs and even suicide attempts. But it is also the definitive account of Hitler's unrelenting struggle for control over his raucous movement, as he fought off challenges, built and bullied coalitions, quelled internecine feuds and neutralized his enemies-all culminating in the creation of the Third Reich and the western world's descent into darkness. One of the most dramatic and important stories in world history, Hitler's ascent spans Germany's wobbly recovery from World War I through years of growing prosperity and, finally, into crippling depression.
The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern
by Keith DevlinIn the early seventeenth century, the outcome of something as simple as a dice roll was consigned to the realm of unknowable chance. Mathematicians largely agreed that it was impossible to predict the probability of an occurrence. Then, in 1654, Blaise Pascal wrote to Pierre de Fermat explaining that he had discovered how to calculate risk. The two collaborated to develop what is now known as probability theory?a concept that allows us to think rationally about decisions and events. In "The Unfinished Game," Keith Devlin masterfully chronicles Pascal and FermatOCOs mathematical breakthrough, connecting a centuries-old discovery with its remarkable impact on the modern world.
The Unfinished Life of Benjamin Franklin
by Douglas AndersonBenjamin Franklin wrote his posthumously published memoir—a model of the genre—in several pieces and in different temporal and physical places. Douglas Anderson’s study of this work reveals the famed inventor as a literary adept whose approach to autobiographical narrative was as innovative and radical as the inventions and political thought for which he is renowned.Franklin never completed his autobiography, choosing instead to immerse his reader in the formal and textual atmosphere of a deliberately "unfinished" life. Taking this decision on Franklin’s part as a starting point, Anderson treats the memoir as a subtle and rewarding reading lesson, independent of the famous life that it dramatizes but closely linked to the work of predecessors and successors like John Bunyan and Alexis de Tocqueville, whose books help illuminate Franklin’s complex imagination. Anderson shows that Franklin’s incomplete story exploits the disorderly and disruptive state of a lived life, as opposed to striving for the meticulous finish of standard memoirs, biographies, and histories. In presenting Franklin’s autobiography as an exemplary formal experiment in an era that its author once called the Age of Experiments, The Unfinished Life of Benjamin Franklin veers away from the familiar practices of traditional biographers, viewing history through the lens of literary imagination rather than the other way around. Anderson’s carefully considered work makes a persuasive case for revisiting this celebrated book with a keener appreciation for the subtlety and beauty of Franklin’s performance.
The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy: A Biography
by David Halberstam&“Far and away the best book written about Senator Kennedy&” from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author (The New York Times). Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician. Kennedy&’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy&’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy&’s evolution as one of the nation&’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of David Halberstam including rare images from the author&’s estate.
The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy: A Biography
by David Halberstam&“Far and away the best book written about Senator Kennedy&” from the Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author (The New York Times). Structured around the 1968 Democratic presidential campaign, The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy offers an in-depth exploration of Robert Kennedy, both as a man and a politician. Kennedy&’s mass appeal to minority groups, his antiwar stance, and his support from Catholics made him unlike any other politician of his stature in the late 1960s. Acclaimed journalist David Halberstam dives into Kennedy&’s career, covering his work as US attorney general and campaign manager for his brother John, his run for a New York state senate seat, and his candidacy in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary. Through this crucial period, he charts Kennedy&’s evolution as one of the nation&’s most clear-headed progressives, ultimately revealing a man who—even now—personifies the shift toward a more equal America. This ebook features an illustrated biography of David Halberstam including rare images from the author&’s estate.
The Unfit Heiress: The Tragic Life and Scandalous Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt
by Audrey Clare FarleyFor readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a page-turning drama of fortunes, eugenics and women's reproductive rights framed by the sordid court battle between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother. At the turn of the twentieth century, American women began to reject Victorian propriety in favor of passion and livelihood outside the home. This alarmed authorities, who feared certain "over-sexed" women could destroy civilization if allowed to reproduce and pass on their defects. Set against this backdrop, The Unfit Heiress chronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon.In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her "promiscuous" daughter declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge. She did this to deprive Ann of millions of dollars from her father's estate, which contained a child-bearing stipulation. When a sensational court case ensued, the American public was captivated. So were eugenicists, who saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come.This riveting story unfolds through the brilliant research of Audrey Clare Farley, who captures the interior lives of these women on the pages and poses questions that remain relevant today: What does it mean to be "unfit" for motherhood? In the battle for reproductive rights, can we forgive the women who side against us? And can we forgive our mothers if they are the ones who inflict the deepest wounds?
The Unforgettable Season: Joe Dimaggio, Ted Williams And The Record-setting Summer Of '41
by Phil BildnerAt the start of the 1941 baseball season, neither Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees nor Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox were beloved by baseball fans. But that all changed when Joe started a 56-game hitting streak and Ted's batting average rose to over .400. Despite numerous challenges along the way-Joe had his bat stolen by an overeager fan and Ted's batting average dipped to .3995 on the last day of the season-the records set by "Joltin' Joe" and "The Splendid Splinter" have yet to be broken. New York Times bestselling author of the Sluggers series (with Loren Long), Phil Bildner has written an accessible tribute to two of baseball's greatest heroes. Packed with fun facts and statistics for eager fans to pore over, this book is sure to be a home run!
The Unforgiving Hours: The Grit, Resilience, and Perseverance at the Heart of Endurance Sports
by Shannon HoganThrough the exploration of incredible physical feats—some well-known and some only passed around watering holes and campfires—endurance athlete and journalist Shannon Hogan takes us into the world of those who have pushed themselves through the &“unforgiving hours&” to achieve greatness and redefine modern outdoor adventuring.From the frozen wilds of Alaska&’s treacherous trails to the unyielding currents of Puget Sound and Canada&’s Inside Passage, from the rugged majesty of Colorado&’s peaks to the vibrant depths of Costa Rica&’s rainforests, Hogan offers us an intimate window into the toughest contests in sports. Whether it&’s a blistering race across the furnace trails of gold country in the Sierra Nevadas, a grueling swim in frigid water to break the Ice Mile Distance record, or a competition on the biggest triathlon stage with a determination beyond perceived limitations, each journey reveals the resilience and humor it takes to face the unknown with only the guarantee of discomfort ahead. These stories of ordinary women and men who kept going even when things went wrong, especially when the weather and tides did not cooperate, attest to the drive, grit, and patience that exists in all of us. Through exhaustion, setbacks, and moments of darkness and doubt, these athletes prove that greatness isn&’t about perfection—it&’s about perseverance. Their triumphs, large and small, are a testament to the power of adaptability, passion, and the sheer will to keep going, one breath, one step, one stroke, and one mile at a time. In the pages of The Unforgiving Hours, you will read the stories of: Gunhild Swanson running the Western States 100 Endurance Run five days shy of her seventy-first birthday Kelly Danielson and team Sail Like a Girl, the first all-female sailing team to win the Race to Alaska Gordon Wadsworth racing the hardest mountain bike race in the world while opting for only one bike gear Lynne Cox breaking the record for swimming across the English Channel at age 15 Yuichiro Hidaka dreaming of eating potato chips while running the Boston Double for the fourth time Seana Hogan, the current cycling transcontinental female record holder (set at age 35) fighting the race clock and Father Time to finish Race Across America at age 60 John Stamstad voyaging to Alaska for an all-night February bike race in the bush of the Last Frontier Melissa Kegler training for two years to break the American Ice Mile Distance record in 39.2ºF water Chris Jones embarking on The Last Great Race—six 100-mile ultramarathons to be completed over the course of one summer And Tina Ament, along with Anne Thilges, crossing the finish line at 16 hours, 18 minutes, and 5 seconds to establish one of the most inspiring records in endurance sports. Blending top-notch sports writing, armchair adventure and travel, and an insightful thesis on the human spirit, The Unforgiving Hours is an indelible chronicle of odysseys that showcase the determination, creativity, joy, strength, and inspiration at the heart of endurance sports.
The Unforgiving Minute
by Mullaney Craig M.Craig M. Mullaney's education had been relentlessly preparing him for this moment. The four years he spent at West Point and the harrowing test of Ranger School readied him for a career in the Army. His subsequent experience as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford couldn't have been further from the Army and his working-class roots, and yet the unorthodox education he received there would be surprisingly relevant as a combat leader. Years later, after that unforgettable experience in Afghanistan, he would return to the United States to teach history to future Navy and Marine Corps officers at the Naval Academy. He had been in their position once, and he had put his education to the test. How would he use his own life-changing experience to prepare them? "The Unforgiving Minute" is the extraordinary story of one soldier's singular education. From a hilarious plebe's-eye view of the author's West Point experience to the demanding leadership crucible of Ranger School's swamps and mountains, to a two-year whirlwind of scintillating debate, pub crawls, and romance at Oxford, Mullaney's winding path to the battlegrounds of Afghanistan was unique and remarkable. Despite all his preparation, the hardest questions remained. When the call came to lead his platoon into battle and earn his soldiers' salutes, would he be ready? Was his education sufficient for the unforgiving minutes he'd face? A fascinating account of an Army captain's unusual path through some of the most legendary seats of learning straight into a brutal fight with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, "The Unforgiving Minute" is, above all, an unforgettable portrait of a young soldier grappling with the weight of his hard-earned knowledge while coming to grips with becoming a man.
The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education
by Craig M. MullaneyA West Point grad, Rhodes Scholar, and Army Ranger recounts his unique education and struggles with the hard lessons that only war can teach. One haunting afternoon on Losano Ridge in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Captain Craig Mullaney and his infantry platoon were caught in a deadly firefight with Al Qaeda fighters, when a message came over the radio: one of his soldiers had been killed by the enemy. Mullaney's education, the four years he spent at West Point, and the harrowing test of Ranger School, readied him for a career in the Army. His subsequent experience as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford couldn't have been further from the Army and his working-class roots, and yet the unorthodox education he received there would be surprisingly relevant as a combat leader. But despite all his preparation, the hardest questions remained. When the call came to lead his platoon into battle and earn his soldiers' salutes, would he be ready? Was his education sufficient for the unforgiving minutes he'd face? Years later, after that excruciating experience in Afghanistan, he would return to the United States to teach history to future Navy and Marine Corps officers at the Naval Academy. He had been in their position once, not long ago. How would he use his own life-changing experience to prepare them? Written with unflinching honesty, The Unforgiving Minute is an unforgettable portrait of a young soldier grappling with the weight of his hard-earned knowledge, while at last coming to terms with what it really means to be a man.
The Unforgotten Sisters
by Gabriella BernardiTakinginspiration from Siv Cedering's poem in the form of a fictional letter fromCaroline Herschel that refers to "my long, lost sisters, forgotten in the booksthat record our science", this book tells the lives of twenty-five femalescientists, with specific attention to astronomers and mathematicians. Each ofthe presented biographies is organized as a kind of "personal file"which sets the biographee's life in its historical context, documents her mainworks, highlights some curious facts, and records citations about her. Theselected figures are among the most representative of this neglected world,including such luminaries as Hypatia of Alexandra, Hildegard of Bingen,Elisabetha Hevelius, and Maria Gaetana Agnesi. They span a period of about 4000years, from En HeduAnna, the Akkadian princess, who was one of the firstrecognized female astronomers, to the dawn of the era of modern astronomy withCaroline Herschel and Mary Somerville. The book will be of interest to allwho wish to learn more about the women from antiquity to the nineteenth centurywho played such key roles in the history of astronomy and science despiteliving and working in largely male-dominated worlds.
The Unfortunate Colonel Despard: And the British Revolution that Never Happened
by Mike JayThis is the true story of Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, the character in the fifth series of the BBC's popular television drama Poldark. Colonel Despard was the last person to be sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering in Britain - for high treason, an alleged plot to kill the king. His execution on 21st February 1803 was witnessed by twenty thousand hushed onlookers. Their silence was ominous, for few believed he was guilty. His death would tear apart a Britain still reeling from the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. But who was Edward Marcus Despard? Was he, as his comrade-in-arms on the Spanish Main Lord Nelson believed, an outstanding British army officer of unimpeachable honour, courage and patriotism? Or, as the white slave-owners of the Caribbean claimed, a traitor not only to his nation but to his race, who had married a local woman and championed the rights of freed slaves?And when Despard returned to London to answer these allegations, did he commit himself to the cause of political reform in Britain's best interest? Or did he join a shadowy international terrorist conspiracy dedicated to the murder of George III and the overthrow of the state? Despard's contested fate marked the sensational climax to a British revolution that never happened, but it also presaged the birth of modern democracy.'Compelling, absorbing and wide-ranging . . . Jay weaves a complex variety of themes, many with overtly topical resonances, into Despard's journey from hero to traitor'Sunday Times
The Unfortunate Colonel Despard: And the British Revolution that Never Happened
by Mike JayThis is the true story of Colonel Edward Marcus Despard, the character in the fifth series of the BBC's popular television drama Poldark. Colonel Despard was the last person to be sentenced to hanging, drawing and quartering in Britain - for high treason, an alleged plot to kill the king. His execution on 21st February 1803 was witnessed by twenty thousand hushed onlookers. Their silence was ominous, for few believed he was guilty. His death would tear apart a Britain still reeling from the impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. But who was Edward Marcus Despard? Was he, as his comrade-in-arms on the Spanish Main Lord Nelson believed, an outstanding British army officer of unimpeachable honour, courage and patriotism? Or, as the white slave-owners of the Caribbean claimed, a traitor not only to his nation but to his race, who had married a local woman and championed the rights of freed slaves?And when Despard returned to London to answer these allegations, did he commit himself to the cause of political reform in Britain's best interest? Or did he join a shadowy international terrorist conspiracy dedicated to the murder of George III and the overthrow of the state? Despard's contested fate marked the sensational climax to a British revolution that never happened, but it also presaged the birth of modern democracy.'Compelling, absorbing and wide-ranging . . . Jay weaves a complex variety of themes, many with overtly topical resonances, into Despard's journey from hero to traitor'Sunday Times
The Ungarnished Truth
by Ellie MathewsA woman, a chicken dinner, a million dollars-and a romp through the heartland of America's competitive cooking culture. When Ellie Mathews entered her Salsa Couscous Chicken in the venerable Pillsbury Bake-Off, she never imagined she'd win the grand prize. Immediately after Alex Trebek announced that her dish had won a million dollars, she was thrown into the limelight. Booked with Oprah and Rosie-even photographed for the New York Times in a vest made of ostrich feathers-she instantly became the reigning queen of chickendom, the Pillsbury "It Girl" of the moment. With a dash of self-deprecating humor and a pinch of biting social commentary, Ellie takes readers on her roller coaster ride to the top of the food chain as the Pillsbury prizewinner. As a cooking contest insider, she goes behind the counter and beyond the aprons and oven mitts to reveal a fascinating slice of Americana.
The Unhappiest Lady in Christendom
by Alison WeirThe Unhappiest Lady in Christendom by historian Alison Weir is a captivating e-short and companion piece to the third novel in the Six Tudor Queens series, Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen.I was to be chief mourner - I, for whom Queen Jane had done more than anyone. She could never have filled the shoes of my dear, sainted mother - no one could - but she had done her very best to restore me to my rightful place in my father's affections, and for that I shall always be grateful.Henry VIII's third queen is dead, leaving the King's only son without a mother and the country without a queen. And as preparations are being made for Queen Jane's funeral, her stepdaughter, the Lady Mary, laments the country's loss. But, only a month later, the King has begun his search for a new wife. Will Mary accept this new queen, or will she be forced to live in the shadows of Queen Katherine, Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Jane for ever?Featuring the first chapter of Jane Seymour: The Haunted Queen.SIX TUDOR QUEENS. SIX NOVELS. SIX YEARS.
The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa
by Josh SwillerSwiller spent his early years in frustrated limbo on the sidelines of the hearing world. So he decided to abandon the well-trodden path after college, setting out to find a place so far removed that his deafness would become irrelevant.
The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa
by Josh SwillerA young man's quest to reconcile his deafness in an unforgiving world leads to a remarkable sojourn in a remote African village that pulsates with beauty and violence These are hearing aids. They take the sounds of the world and amplify them." Josh Swiller recited this speech to himself on the day he arrived in Mununga, a dusty village on the shores of Lake Mweru. Deaf since a young age, Swiller spent his formative years in frustrated limbo on the sidelines of the hearing world, encouraged by his family to use lipreading and the strident approximations of hearing aids to blend in. It didn't work. So he decided to ditch the well-trodden path after college, setting out to find a place so far removed that his deafness would become irrelevant.That place turned out to be Zambia, where Swiller worked as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years. There he would encounter a world where violence, disease, and poverty were the mundane facts of life. But despite the culture shock, Swiller finally commanded attention—everyone always listened carefully to the white man, even if they didn't always follow his instruction. Spending his days working in the health clinic with Augustine Jere, a chubby, world-weary chess aficionado and a steadfast friend, Swiller had finally found, he believed, a place where his deafness didn't interfere, a place he could call home. Until, that is, a nightmarish incident blasted away his newfound convictions.At once a poignant account of friendship through adversity, a hilarious comedy of errors, and a gripping narrative of escalating violence, The Unheard is an unforgettable story from a noteworthy new talent.
The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius (Onyx Series)
by Steven LevyThe true story of Ira Einhorn, the Philadelphia antiwar crusader, environmental activist, and New Age guru with a murderous dark side. During the cultural shockwaves of the 1960s and '70s, Ira Einhorn--nicknamed the "Unicorn"--was the leading radical voice for the antiwar movement at the University of Pennsylvania. At his side were such noted activists as Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. A brilliantly articulate advocate for peace in a turbulent era, he rallied followers toward the growing antiestablishment causes of free love, drugs, and radical ecological reform. In 1979, when the mummified remains of his girlfriend, Holly Maddux, a Bryn Mawr flower child from Tyler, Texas, were found in a trunk in his apartment, Einhorn claimed a CIA frame-up. Incredibly, the network of influential friends, socialites, and powerful politicians he'd charmed and manipulated over the years supported him. Represented by renowned district attorney and future senator Arlen Specter, Einhorn was released on bail. But before trial, he fled the country to an idyllic town in the French wine region and disappeared. It would take more than twenty years--and two trials--to finally bring Einhorn to justice. Based on more than two years of research and 250 interviews, as well as the chilling private journals of Einhorn and Maddux, prize-winning journalist Steven Levy paints an astonishing and complicated portrait of a man motivated by both genius and rage. The basis for 1998 NBC television miniseries The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer, The Unicorn's Secret is a "spellbinding sociological/true crime study," revealing the dark and tragic dimensions of a man who defined an era, only to shatter its ideals (Publishers Weekly).
The Unilateral Presidency and the News Media
by Mark MajorMedia coverage of presidential actions can not only serve journalistic purposes, but can also act as a check against unilateral decision making. The book seeks to uncover how the news media has worked to curtail overreaching power within the executive branch, demonstrating how the fourth estate keeps presidential overreach at bay.
The Uninnocent: Notes on Violence and Mercy
by Katharine BlakeOne of Buzzfeed's 25 New And Upcoming Books You Won’t Be Able To Put Down and one of LitHub's Best New Nonfiction to Read This November"The Uninnocent is so elegantly crafted that the pleasure of reading it nearly overrides its devastating subject matter . . . a story of radical empathy, a triumph of care and forgiveness." --Stephanie Danler, author of Stray and SweetbitterA harrowing intellectual reckoning with crime, mercy, justice and heartbreak through the lens of a murderOn a Thursday morning in June 2010, Katharine Blake's sixteen-year-old cousin walked to a nearby bike path with a boxcutter, and killed a young boy he didn’t know. It was a psychological break that tore through his brain, and into the hearts of those who loved both boys—one brutally killed, the other sentenced to die at Angola, one of the country’s most notorious prisons.In The Uninnocent, Blake, a law student at Stanford at the time of the crime, wrestles with the implications of her cousin’s break, as well as the broken machinations of America’s justice system. As her cousin languished in a cell on death row, where he was assigned for his own protection, Blake struggled to keep her faith in the system she was training to join. Consumed with understanding her family’s new reality, Blake became obsessed with heartbreak, seeing it everywhere: in her cousin’s isolation, in the loss at the center of the crime, in the students she taught at various prisons, in the way our justice system breaks rather than mends, in the history of her parents and their violent childhoods. As she delves into a history of heartbreak—through science, medicine, and literature—and chronicles the uneasy yet ultimately tender bond she forms with her cousin, Blake asks probing questions about justice, faith, inheritance, family, and, most of all, mercy. Sensitive, singular, and powerful, effortlessly bridging memoir, essay, and legalese, The Uninnocent is a reckoning with the unimaginable, unforgettable, and seemly irredeemable. With curiosity and vulnerability, Blake unravels a distressed tapestry, finding solace in both its tearing and its mending.