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Bandit Country: Brothers, betrayal, and murder in the heart of a gambling empire
by Jamie ReidA True-Crime Story Set Against the Backdrop of an After-Dark World Filled with New Money, Hedonism, and ExcessGripping, atmospheric, true-crime noir. Bandit Country takes you on a thrilling journey into the shadowy underworld of England’s organized crime. In this atmospheric tale, you are introduced to a cast of characters as diverse as the luxurious nightclubs they frequent: racketeers, gamblers, glamorous women, entrepreneurs, bunny girls, politicians, and policemen. At the heart of the story are the Luvaglio brothers, visionaries who dared to dream of an empire amidst the industrial skylines and bridges of Newcastle.Unfolding like a cinematic thriller.Bandit Country is more than just a true crime story; it's a meticulously researched and emotionally charged portrayal of a bygone era. It delves deep into the heart of the British gambling boom and the forces that shaped it, with a particular focus on the influence of organized crime and the elusive Mafia empire. For fans of true crime biographies, books about the Mafia, gripping suspense, and noir books, Bandit Country offers a unique and captivating narrative that inspired the British classic gangster film, Get Carter.Inside:Discover the secrets of an empire built on ambition and shattered by betrayalExplore the rise of the British gambling industry during the 1960sFind the perfect addition to organized crime books for the true crime obsessedIf you love books about true crime such as The Life We Chose, Five Families, or The Best New True Crime Stories, then Bandit Country is for you.
Bandit Mentality: Hunting Insurgents in the Rhodesian Bush War, A Memoir
by Lindsay O’BrienA former officer of British South Africa&’s anti-terrorist unit recounts his experiences on the frontlines of the Rhodesian Bush war from 1976–1980. A native of New Zealand, Lindsay &‘Kiwi&’ O&’Brien served in the British South Africa Police Support Unit&’s anti-terrorist battalion. He traveled across the country as a section leader and a troop commander before joining the UANC political armies as trainer and advisor. The BSA Support Unit started poorly supplied and equipped, but the caliber of the men, mostly African, was second-to-none. Support Unit specialized in the &“grunt&” work inside Rhodesia with none of the flamboyant helicopter or cross-border raids carried out by the army. O&’Brien&’s war was primarily within selected tribal lands, seeking out and destroying Communist guerilla units in brisk close-range battles with little to no support. O&’Brien moved from the police to working with the initial UANC deployment in the Zambezi Valley where the poorly trained recruits had to learn fast or die. O&’Brien&’s account is a foreign-born perspective from a junior commander uninterested in promotion and the wrangling of upper command. He was decorated and wounded three times.
Bandit: A Daughter's Memoir
by Molly BrodakRaw, poetic and compulsively readable. In Molly Brodak’s dazzling memoir, Bandit, her eye is so honest, I found myself nodding like I was agreeing with her, sometimes cringing at what she sustained, and laughing often. I can’t wait to buy a copy for everyone I know.” Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help In the summer of 1994, when Molly Brodak was thirteen years old, her father robbed eleven banks, until the police finally caught up with him while he was sitting at a bar drinking beer, a bag of stolen money plainly visible in the backseat of his parked car. Dubbed the Mario Brothers Bandit” by the FBI, he served seven years in prison and was released, only to rob another bank several years later and end up back behind bars. In her powerful, provocative debut memoir, Bandit, Molly Brodak recounts her childhood and attempts to make sense of her complicated relationship with her father, a man she only half knew. At some angles he was a normal father: there was a job at the GM factory, a house with a yard, birthday treats for Molly and her sister. But there were darker glimmers, too another wife he never mentioned to her mother, late-night rages directed at the TV, the red Corvette that suddenly appeared in the driveway, a gift for her sister. Growing up with this larger-than-life, mercurial man, Brodak’s strategy was to get small” and stay out of the way. In Bandit, she unearths and reckons with her childhood memories and the fracturing impact her father had on their family and in the process attempts to make peace with the parts of herself that she inherited from this bewildering, beguiling man. Written in precise, spellbinding prose, Bandit is a stunning, gut-punching story of family and memory, of the tragic fallibility of the stories we tell ourselves, and of the contours of a father’s responsibility for his children.
Bandits
by Eric HobsbawmA trailblazing study of the social bandit or rebelBANDITS is a study of the social bandit or bandit-rebel - robbers and outlaws who are not regarded by public opinion as simple criminals, but rather as champions of social justice, as avengers or as primitive resistance fighters. Whether Balkan haiduks, Indian dacoits or Brazilian congaceiros, their spectacular exploits have been celebrated and preserved in story and myth. Some are only know to their fellow countrymen; others such as Rob Roy, Robin Hood and Jesse James are famous throughout the world. First published in 1969, BANDITS inspired a new field of historical study: bandit history.
Bang Bang Crash
by Nic BrownA rock and roll drummer abandons his successful music career to pursue his true passion and discovers a deeper understanding of artistic fulfillment in this episodic memoir of swapping one dream for anotherIn the mid-1990s, fresh out of high school, Nic Brown was living his childhood dream as a rock and roll drummer. Signing a major label record deal, playing big shows, hitting the charts, giving interviews in Rolling Stone, appearing on The Tonight Show—what could be better for a young artist? But contrary to expectations, getting a shot at his artistic dream early in life was a destabilizing shock. The more he achieved, the more accolades that came his way, the less sure Brown became about his path.Only a few years into a promising musical career, he discovered the crux of his discontent: he was never meant to remain behind the drums. In fact, his true artistic path lay in a radically different direction entirely: he decided to become a writer, embarking on a journey leading him to attend the Iowa Writers&’ Workshop, publish novels and short stories, and teach literature to college students across the country.Bang Bang Crash tells the story of Nic Brown&’s unusual journey to gain new strength, presence of mind, and sense of perspective, enabling him to discover an even greater life of artistic fulfillment.
Bang Bang: My Life in Ink
by Bang BangThe celebrity tattoo artist takes fans on a tour through his life and art, combining captivating vignettes and stories with more than one hundred color photos.Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rita Ora, Cara Delevingne, Rihanna, and many more of the hottest celebrities in the world have been seen on the red carpet, on concert stages, and in magazine spreads wearing stunning ink created by Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy, the most in-demand tattoo artist in the entertainment world. Bang Bang’s work has taken him across the country and around the globe, to any and every locale a celebrity client may request. From Rihanna’s controversial gun tattoos, to inking Justin Bieber at 40,000 feet—a record—each of Bang Bang’s tattoos comes with its own epic story. Now, this creative genius invites readers along on his adventures, sharing amazing tales from his life and career.Named for the duel guns tattooed on his neck, Bang Bang began his career in his mom’s tiny Delaware kitchen. Self-taught, he practiced with a kit from an art store before eventually moving to New York. Over the past decade, Bang Bang’s talent and vision propelled his rise into the spotlight, and today, his fresh, accessible aesthetic draws men and women, tattoo vets and novices alike eager to experience his ultra-fluid and realistic designs created with the finest needles and inks. Bang Bang’s visual style transcends the clichés of the tattoo world; he creates a truly different form of art.Filled with engaging personal stories and striking photographs that bring his bold, vibrant designs into detail, Bang Bang is a must-have for Bang Bang fans and tattoo lovers everywhere.
Banged Up
by Ronnie ThompsonDavey Sommers should've ended up in a nice job, with a nice wife, living in a nice house... Instead, he ends up an eight-man unlock in prison, serving 17 years for assaulting a police officer, possession of firearms, obtaining money by intimidation and drug dealing. But then, Davey's never done what's expected of him. We've seen how prison works from one side of the door - now Ronnie Thompson has teamed up with Davey Sommers to tell the story of what it's like from the other side. BANGED UP is a gritty account of one man's descent into crime - from small-time dealing to big time. And it's about the realities of being a 'face' in prison - having to keep your fearsome reputation intact, even while you're behind bars. Life inside is revealed in all its gory detail - the smells, the tastes, the unsavoury company (and that includes the screws). Perhaps that's why Davey thought he'd try his luck and escape rather than serve his time... This is a story of drugs, violence, life on the run and, ultimately, justice.
Banged Up
by Ronnie ThompsonDavey Sommers should've ended up in a nice job, with a nice wife, living in a nice house... Instead, he ends up an eight-man unlock in prison, serving 17 years for assaulting a police officer, possession of firearms, obtaining money by intimidation and drug dealing. But then, Davey's never done what's expected of him. We've seen how prison works from one side of the door - now Ronnie Thompson has teamed up with Davey Sommers to tell the story of what it's like from the other side. BANGED UP is a gritty account of one man's descent into crime - from small-time dealing to big time. And it's about the realities of being a 'face' in prison - having to keep your fearsome reputation intact, even while you're behind bars. Life inside is revealed in all its gory detail - the smells, the tastes, the unsavoury company (and that includes the screws). Perhaps that's why Davey thought he'd try his luck and escape rather than serve his time... This is a story of drugs, violence, life on the run and, ultimately, justice.
Bangkok Babylon
by Jerry HopkinsIn the colorful tradition of Orwell and Hemingway, Maugham and Theroux, Jerry Hopkins recalls his first decade as a Bangkok expatriate by profiling twenty-five of the city's most unforgettable characters.Among them are the man thought to be the model for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now, an advertising executive who photographs Thai bargirls for Playboy, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who moved there to die, a Catholic priest who has lived and worked in the Bangkok slums for 35 years, a circus dwarf turned computer programmer turned restaurateur, three Vietnam war helicopter pilots who opened a go-go bar, a pianist at one of the world's best hotels who ended up on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, a gem dealer who smuggles antiquities from Burma and Cambodia, a detective who tracks runaways who fake their deaths, and a documentary filmmaker who lives with elephants.All of them "escaped" to Thailand to re-invent themselves and live out their fantasies in one of the world's most notorious cities..
Bangkok Days: A Sojourn in the Capital of Pleasure
by Lawrence OsborneA PASSIONATE, AFFECTIONATE RECORD OF ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES IN THE WORLD'S HOTTEST METROPOLIS Tourists come to Bangkok for many reasons—a sex change operation, a night with two prostitutes dressed as nuns, a stay in a luxury hotel. Lawrence Osborne comes for the cheap dentistry. Broke (but no longer in pain), he finds that he can live in Bangkok on a few dollars a day. And so the restless exile stays. Osborne's is a visceral experience of Bangkok, whether he's wandering the canals that fill the old city; dining at the No Hands Restaurant, where his waitress feeds him like a baby; or launching his own notably unsuccessful career as a gigolo. A guide without inhibitions, Osborne takes us to a feverish place where a strange blend of ancient Buddhist practice and new sexual mores has created a version of modernity only superficially indebted to the West. Bangkok Days is a love letter to the city that revived Osborne's faith in adventure and the world.
Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church
by Lisa Pulitzer Lauren DrainYou've likely heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. Perhaps you've seen their pickets on the news, the members holding signs with messages that are too offensive to copy here, protesting at events such as the funerals of soldiers, the 9-year old victim of the recent Tucson shooting, and Elizabeth Edwards, all in front of their grieving families. The WBC is fervently anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and anti- practically everything and everyone. And they aren't going anywhere: in March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC's right to picket funerals. <P> Since no organized religion will claim affiliation with the WBC, it's perhaps more accurate to think of them as a cult. Lauren Drain was thrust into that cult at the age of 15, and then spat back out again seven years later. BANISHED is the first look inside the organization, as well as a fascinating story of adaptation and perseverance. <P> Lauren spent her early years enjoying a normal life with her family in Florida. But when her formerly liberal and secular father set out to produce a documentary about the WBC, his detached interest gradually evolved into fascination, and he moved the entire family to Kansas to join the church and live on their compound. Over the next seven years, Lauren fully assimilated their extreme beliefs, and became a member of the church and an active and vocal picketer. But as she matured and began to challenge some of the church's tenets, she was unceremoniously cast out from the church and permanently cut off from her family and from everyone else she knew and loved. BANISHED is the story of Lauren's fight to find herself amidst dramatic changes in a world of extremists and a life in exile.
Banjo on the Mountain: Wade Mainer's First Hundred Years (American Made Music Series)
by Dick SpottswoodWade Mainer (b. 1907) is believed to be the longest-lived country entertainer ever. His banjo lessons began in childhood and he played informally into his adult years, when he joined his brother, fiddler J. E. Mainer (1898–1971), in Mainer's Mountaineers. Music became their ticket out of the cotton mills in 1934. At the time, country styles were swiftly evolving from community-based performance into mass-market broadcast via radio, records, and the silver screen. Mainer's Mountaineers attracted radio sponsors and touring opportunities, allowing the brothers to become full-time musicians. Eventually Wade Mainer formed his own band, the Sons of the Mountaineers. His success secured a permanent place for the fiddle and banjo sound in country music, sustained that sound's popularity throughout the 1930s, and created the foundation upon which Bill Monroe and his disciples would spread bluegrass music in the 1940s. Banjo on the Mountain features Wade's own words and recollections from a lifetime in music and an exciting career that included a command performance at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a key role in The Old Chisholm Trail, a 1944 BBC-sponsored radio play for American troops and embattled English civilians. The volume is rich in photographs and documents, thanks to Wade and Julia Mainer's careful custodianship of letters, professional photos and family snapshots, posters, songbooks, flyers, and other priceless curios.
Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Muhammad YunusMuhammad Yunus set up the Grameen Bank in his home country of Bangladesh with a loan of just u17, to lend tiny amounts of money to the poorest of the poor - those to whom no ordinary bank would lend. Most of his customers - as they still are - were illiterate women, wanting to set up the smallest imaginable village enterprises. It was his conviction that this new system of 'micro-credit', lending even such small sums, would give such people the spark of initiative needed to pull themselves out of poverty. Today, Yunus's system of micro-credit is practised around the world in some 60 countries, including the US, Canada and France. His Grameen Bank is now a billion-pound business. It is acknowledged by world leaders and by the World Bank to be a fundamental weapon in the fight against poverty. Banker to the Poor is Yunus's enthralling story of how he did it: how the terrible famine in Bangladesh in 1974 focused his ideas on the need to enable its victims to grow more food; how he overcame the sceptics in many governments and among traditional economic thinking; and how he saw his micro-credit extended even outside the Third World into credit unions in the West. Such is the importance of his book that HRH the Prince of Wales has contributed a Foreword in which he hails 'a remarkable man who] spoke the greatest good sense'. "
Banker to the Poor: Micro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Alan Jolis Muhammad YunusWinner of the Nobel Peace Prize describes how he founded Grameen Bank that is devoted to providing poor people with miniscule loans. The bank has provided 3.8 billion dollars to 2.4 million families in rural Bangladesh, enabling them to lift themselves out of poverty forever.
Banking On It: How I Disrupted an Industry
by Anne BodenONE WOMAN'S QUEST TO REBUILD BRITAIN'S BROKEN BANKING SYSTEM'If there was ever a business book suitable for TV adaptation, this is it' FTIn the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, the British banking industry had come to a standstill. Trust in the sector had been left in tatters and, despite the emergence of technologies which could revolutionise the customer experience, nobody wanted to upset the status quo.That was until Anne Boden decided to do something radical and start her own bank.Founder of Starling Bank, winner of Best British Bank three years running, in this awe-inspiring story Anne reveals how she broke through bureaucracy, successfully tackled prejudice to realise her vision for the future of consumer banking and revolutionised the entire industry forever.***ONE OF THE TIMES TOP 5 BEST BUSINESS BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2020***'A banking blockbuster' The Observer Magazine'Sent shockwaves through the tight-knit world of UK tech and venture capital' Yahoo Finance
Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall
by Will Ellsworth-JonesWhile hiding from the limelight, Banksy has made himself into one of the world's best-known living artists. His pieces have fetched millions of dollars at prestigious auction houses. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his film Exit Through the Gift Shop. Once viewed as vandalism, his work is now venerated; fans have gone so far as to dismantle the walls that he has painted on for collection and sale.But as famous as Banksy is, he is also utterly unknown—he conceals his real name, hides his face, distorts his voice, and reveals his identity to only a select few. Who is this man that has captivated millions? How did a graffiti artist from Bristol, England, find himself at the center of an artistic movement? How has someone who goes to such great lengths to keep himself hidden achieved such great notoriety? And is his anonymity a necessity to continue his vandalism—or a marketing tool to make him ever more famous?Now, in the first ever full-scale investigation of the artist, reporter Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together the story of Banksy, building up a picture of the man and the world in which he operates. He talks to his friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early, unnoticed days, and those who have watched him try to come to terms with his newfound fame and success. And he explores the contradictions of a champion of renegade art going to greater and greater lengths to control his image and his work.Banksy offers a revealing glimpse at an enigmatic figure and a riveting account of how a self-professed vandal became an international icon—and turned the art world upside down in the process.
Banned: A Social Media Trial
by Boria MajumdarA social media trial can break you. There were 100,000 tweets of abuse for days on end, all premised on a set of untruths pushed by someone hugely powerful because he had played for the national team. Against the entitled, I never stood a chance. The online trial forced me and the family to draw on every last bit of inner strength, and yet left permanent scars. Having served the ban, I wanted closure in the form of this book. But no one knows better that there will never be a full stop. I will not get back the two years of opportunities that I lost, or the days and evenings when I was almost a stranger to my daughter. For two years, my wife and I never had a quiet dinner where we could just relax. There was not one evening when we didn&’t discuss the issue and the book. Which outsider can quantify the impact it had on the mental health of my family? On my wife, my mother, my sister and my daughter? I became cynical about a number of things, and it will be tough to change that. Writing this book and putting the truth out there has drained and exhausted me. The truth is that the falsehoods piled up against me, ratified by all-knowing social media trolls, changed my life and that of my family. There is no going back to what we were. This was our Long Covid.
Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption
by Jacob Uitti Michael Ray RichardsonMichael Ray Richardson was a star in the making. After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Montana, where he was voted first team All-Big Sky Conference as a sophomore, junior, and senior, the future seemed bright. Taken fourth overall in the 1978 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, Richardson was billed as &“the next Walt Frazier.&” In just his second professional season, he became the third player in NBA history to lead the league in both assists and steals—both Knicks team records. Richardson would also notch four All-Star appearances and twice being named to the All-Defensive team over eight seasons between the Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and New Jersey Nets. But during that time, his time off the court was having a bigger impact on his career than what he was doing on the court. On February 25, 1986, after three violations of the league&’s drug policy, NBA commissioner David Stern would ban Richardson from continuing his professional career. His struggles with drugs and alcohol were well documented, and someone considered the next big thing became the first player in league history to be receive a lifetime ban. For most people, this would be the end to their story—one in which their substance abuse would take over and their downfall inevitable. However, that was not in the cards for Michael Ray Richardson. In Banned, Richardson opens up about his life both on and off the basketball court, discussing all the highs and lows that made him both a hero and a villain. Though being reinstated to the NBA in 1988, he would instead have stints in the United States Basketball League and CBA before taking his talents to Europe. With stints in Italy, Croatia, and France, he would lead his teams to numerous championships in his decade-plus overseas. Now back in the states and running youth basketball clinics, Banned is Richardson&’s first opportunity to open up about his life, showing that though you may get knocked down—even from self-inflicted actions—the only person that can count you out is yourself. With forewords from Hall of Famers George &“The Iceman&” Gervin and Nancy Lieberman, this is the story of the Michael Ray Richardson as only he can tell it.
Banner Forward! The Pictorial Biography of a Guide Dog
by Eva RappaportFrom the Book Jacket: "Banner, Forward!" relates the dramatic development of a Golden Retriever from birth to maturity as a competent guide dog for the blind. Self-realization, the satisfaction one gets from doing the best one can, is a theme which threads through the three major relationships in Banner's life with human beings: her relationship with Jesse, the boy who raises her; with Scott, the man who trains her; and with June, the woman who loves and cares for her and who depends on her for sight. Each is a story in itself and could stand alone. But all contribute to tell Banner's story-the true story of a dog whose every phase of development was influenced toward the goal of doing an important job well, and doing it happily-fulfilling her potential capacities to work and to love. Mrs. Rappaport's description of train ing methods and programs is careful and accurate, based on the work of Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California. But because of her special ability to understand and appreciate the quality of man-dog relationships, "Banner, Forward!" is also a fascinating and moving documentary. EVA RAPPAPORT is a professional photographer and an animal breeder and trainer. She is also every animal's friend. Her household has included opossums, otters, a cashmere rat, and a Bantam hen-not to mention dogs. Needless to say, her husband and three children share her great interest in animals. Mrs. Rappaport was born in Vienna, Austria, and graduated from Cooper Union Art School in New York. She and her family now live in Los Angeles.
Bannock and Beans: A Cowboy's Account of the Bedaux Expedition
by Bob White Jay SherwoodIn 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, millionaire Charles Bedaux spent $250,000 in an attempt to cross northern British Columbia in five motorized vehicles. The Bedaux Expedition ranks as one of the most audacious and unusual events in the province's history. Bannock and Beans tells the story of this extravagant failure from the perspective of one of the cowboys who worked on Bedaux's team. Bob White's reminiscences, recounted in the tradition of the cowboy storyteller, describe the hardships of cutting trails and hauling supplies on horseback, the beauty of the wilderness landscape and many of the unique aspects of the expedition. Bannock and Beans also reveals the complex character of the expedition's leader, Charles Bedaux, a French entrepreneur who made his fortune in the United States. The book includes White's experiences in Bedaux's attempts to develop a ranch in northern BC after the expedition. Editor Jay Sherwood supplements with original Bedaux Expedition correspondence and photographs to show Bedaux's strong attachment to the remote wilderness area of northern BC from 1926 to 1939. Bannock and Beans provides new information and a fresh perspective on this unique event in BC's history. White's memoirs take us back to the campfire stories of people who were part of the vast wilderness that still covered much of the northern part of the province 75 years ago.
Bannon: Always the Rebel
by Keith Koffler"By now, everyone in America knows Steve Bannon, the force of nature who has shaped the Trump presidency more than anyone except Trump himself. If you want to know what's behind that force of nature—if you want to know Steve Bannon the man—this is the indispensable book for you." —DAVID HOROWITZ, author of Big Agenda.He helped engineer one of the greatest upsets in political history—the election of Donald J. Trump as president of the United States.And he's far from done.Now he wants to restore America—its prosperity, its sense of self, and its ability to survive a perilous twenty-first century.To do that, former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon intends to transform the Republican Party from a club for establishment flunkies into a populist political force powerful enough to take on America's military, economic, and cultural adversaries.In Bannon: Always the Rebel, veteran White House reporter Keith Koffler—who had hours of exclusive access to Bannon, both during and immediately after his tenure at the White House—offers a penetrating portrait of the man and his ideas.In Bannon, you'll learn: How Bannon's core values come from his Catholic faith, his working-class background, and his service in the Navy How Bannon's faith helped him stop drinking Why Bannon—even as a Harvard Business School grad—was always an outsider How he made his money in Hollywood—and then became both a maverick writer, producer, and director of conservative documentaries and the leader of a political movement at Breitbart How Bannon plans to remake the GOP as a workers' party that will attract minority voters and become the dominant political force of the twenty-first century Why Bannon believes America is a civilization in crisis Provocative, original, concise, Bannon: Always the Rebel might just change the way you think—not only about Steve Bannon, but about politics and America's future.
Banquet at Delmonico's
by Barry WerthIn Banquet at Delmonico's, Barry Werth, the acclaimed author of The Scarlet Professor, draws readers inside the circle of philosophers, scientists, politicians, businessmen, clergymen, and scholars who brought Charles Darwin's controversial ideas to America in the crucial years after the Civil War.The United States in the 1870s and '80s was deep in turmoil-a brash young nation torn by a great depression, mired in scandal and corruption, rocked by crises in government, violently conflicted over science and race, and fired up by spiritual and sexual upheavals. Secularism was rising, most notably in academia. Evolution-and its catchphrase, "survival of the fittest"-animated and guided this Gilded Age.Darwin's theory of natural selection was extended to society and morals not by Darwin himself but by the English philosopher Herbert Spencer, father of "the Law of Equal Freedom," which holds that "every man is free to do that which he wills," provided it doesn't infringe on the equal freedom of others. As this justification took root as a social, economic, and ethical doctrine, Spencer won numerous influential American disciples and allies, including industrialist Andrew Carnegie, clergyman Henry Ward Beecher, and political reformer Carl Schurz. Churches, campuses, and newspapers convulsed with debate over the proper role of government in regulating Americans' behavior, this country's place among nations, and, most explosively, the question of God's existence.In late 1882, most of the main figures who brought about and popularized these developments gathered at Delmonico's, New York's most venerable restaurant, in an exclusive farewell dinner to honor Spencer and to toast the social applications of the theory of evolution. It was a historic celebration from which the repercussions still ripple throughout our society.Banquet at Delmonico's is social history at its finest, richest, and most appetizing, a brilliant narrative bristling with personal intrigue, tantalizing insights, and greater truths about American life and culture.From the Hardcover edition.
Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luck
by Paul Collins“Hearteningly strange . . . Collins exhumes little-known figures [and] recounts their perversely inspiring battles against the more logical ways of the world.” —The OnionHere are thirteen unforgettable portraits of forgotten people: men and women who might have claimed their share of renown but who, whether from ill timing, skullduggery, monomania, the tinge of madness, or plain bad luck—or perhaps some combination of them all—leapt straight from life into thankless obscurity.Collins brings them back to glorious life. John Banvard was an artist whose colossal panoramic canvasses (one behemoth depiction of the entire eastern shore of the Mississippi River was simply known as “The Three Mile Painting”) made him the richest and most famous artist of his day . . . before he decided to go head to head with P. T. Barnum. René Blondot was a distinguished French physicist whose celebrated discovery of a new form of radiation, called the N-Ray, went terribly awry. At the tender age of seventeen, William Henry Ireland signed “William Shakespeare” to a book and launched a short but meteoric career as a forger of undiscovered works by the Bard—until he pushed his luck too far.Collins’ love for what he calls the “forgotten ephemera of genius” give his portraits of these figures and the other ten men and women in Banvard’s Folly sympathetic depth and poignant relevance. Their effect is not to make us sneer or revel in schadenfreude; here are no cautionary tales. Rather, here are brief introductions—acts of excavation and reclamation—to people whom history may have forgotten, but whom now we cannot.
Baptism
by Larry Gwin"The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry had the dubious distinction of being the unit that had fought the biggest battle of the war to date, and had suffered the worst casualties. We and the 1st Battalion."A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only twenty-three years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles.The bloodiest conflict of all began November 12, 1965, after 2nd Battalion was flown into the Ia Drang Valley west of Pleiku. Acting as point, Alpha Company spearheaded the battalion's march to landing zone Albany for pickup, not knowing they were walking into the killing zone of an NVA ambush that would cost them 10 percent casualties.Gwin spares no one, including himself, in his gut-wrenching account of the agony of war. Through the stench of death and the acrid smell of napalm, he chronicles the Vietnam War in all its nightmarish horror.From the Paperback edition.
Baptism: A Vietnam Memoir
by Larry Gwin"The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry had the dubious distinction of being the unit that had fought the biggest battle of the war to date, and had suffered the worst casualties. We and the 1st Battalion." A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only twenty-three years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles. The bloodiest conflict of all began November 12, 1965, after 2nd Battalion was flown into the Ia Drang Valley west of Pleiku. Acting as point, Alpha Company spearheaded the battalion's march to landing zone Albany for pickup, not knowing they were walking into the killing zone of an NVA ambush that would cost them 10 percent casualties. Gwin spares no one, including himself, in his gut-wrenching account of the agony of war. Through the stench of death and the acrid smell of napalm, he chronicles the Vietnam War in all its nightmarish horror.