- Table View
- List View
William Friday
by William A. LinkFew North Carolinians have been as well known or as widely respected as William Friday (1920-2012). The former president of the University of North Carolina remained prominent in public affairs in the state and elsewhere throughout his life and ranked as one of the most important American university presidents of the post-World War II era. In the second edition of this comprehensive biography, William Link traces Friday's long and remarkable career and commemorates his legendary life. Friday's thirty years as president of the university, from 1956 to 1986, spanned the greatest period of growth for higher education in American history, and Friday played a crucial role in shaping the sixteen-campus UNC system during that time. Link also explores Friday's influential work on nationwide commissions, task forces, and nonprofits, and in the development of the National Humanities Center and the growth of Research Triangle Park. This second edition features a new introduction and epilogue to enrich the narrative, charting the later years of Friday's career and examining his legacy in North Carolina and nationwide.
William Friedkin: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series)
by Christopher LaneAcademy Award–winning director William Friedkin (b. 1935) is best known for his critically and commercially successful films The French Connection and The Exorcist. Unlike other film school–educated filmmakers of the directors’ era, Friedkin got his start as a mailroom clerk at a local TV station and worked his way up to becoming a full-blown Hollywood filmmaker by his thirties. His rapid rise behind the camera from television director to Oscar winner came with self-confidence and unorthodox methods. Known for his gritty and auteurist style, Friedkin’s films tell the story of a changing America upended by crime, hypocrisy, the occult, and amorality. Although his subsequent films achieved varying levels of success, his cultural impact is undeniable. William Friedkin: Interviews collects fifteen articles, interviews, and seminars spanning Friedkin’s career. He discusses early influences, early successes, awards, and current projects. The volume provides coverage of his directorial process, beliefs, and anecdotes from his time serving as the creative force of some of the biggest films of the 1970s and beyond—from his early days in Chicago to his run-ins with Alfred Hitchcock to firing guns on set and witnessing an actual exorcism in Italy. Through previously unpublished and obscure interviews and seminars, the story of William Friedkin’s work and life is woven together into a candid and concise impression for cinephiles, horror junkies, and aspiring filmmakers alike. Readers will gain insight into Friedkin’s genius from his own perspectives and discover the thoughts and processes of a true maverick of American cinema.
William Gibson (Modern Masters of Science Fiction)
by Gary WestfahlThe leading figure in the development of cyberpunk, William Gibson (born in 1948) crafted works in which isolated humans explored near-future worlds of ubiquitous and intrusive computer technology and cybernetics. This volume is the first comprehensive examination of the award-winning author of the seminal novel Neuromancer (and the other books in the Sprawl trilogy, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive), as well as other acclaimed novels including recent bestsellers Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History. Renowned scholar Gary Westfahl draws upon extensive research to provide a compelling account of Gibson's writing career and his lasting influence in the science fiction world. Delving into numerous science fiction fanzines that the young Gibson contributed to and edited, Westfahl delivers new information about his childhood and adolescence. He describes for the first time more than eighty virtually unknown Gibson publications from his early years, including articles, reviews, poems, cartoons, letters, and a collaborative story. The book also documents the poems, articles, and introductions that Gibson has written for various books, and its discussions are enriched by illuminating comments from various print and online interviews. The works that made Gibson famous are also featured, as Westfahl performs extended analyses of Gibson's ten novels and nineteen short stories. Lastly, the book presents a new interview with Gibson in which the author discusses his correspondence with author Fritz Leiber, his relationship with the late scholar Susan Wood, his attitudes toward critics, his overall impact on the field of science fiction, and his recently completed screenplay and forthcoming novel.
William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies
by John CareyThe first and only biography of Nobel laureate William Golding, by preeminent British literary critic John Carey.
William Goyen: Selected Letters from a Writer's Life
by Robert Phillips William GoyenProclaimed "one of the great American writers of short fiction" by the New York Times Book Review, William Goyen (1915-1983) had a quintessentially American literary career, in which national recognition and a wide readership came only after years of struggle to find his authentic voice, his audience, and a sustaining artistic milieu in which to create. These letters, which span the years 1937 to 1983, chronicle Goyen's long participation in the writing life and offer a compelling testament to what it means to be a writer in America. A prolific correspondent, Goyen wrote regularly to friends, family, editors, and other writers, both well known and unknown. Among the letters selected here are those to such major literary figures as W. H. Auden, Archibald MacLeish, Anaïs Nin, Margo Jones, Joyce Carol Oates, William Inge, James Laughlin, John Lehmann, Elia Kazan, Granville Hicks, Daniel Stern, Elizabeth Spencer, James Leo Herlihy, Ned Rorem, and Katherine Anne Porter. These letters constitute a virtual autobiography for Goyen aficionados, while newcomers to his work will find this book a fascinating introduction. Revealing the passions and concerns that informed his impressive body of novels, short story and poetry collections, and nonfiction, it adds an important chapter to the study of American and Texas literature of the twentieth century.
William Grant Still: African-American Composer
by Catherine ReefTraces the life of the African American classical composer. Includes bibliographical references and index.
William Henry Jernagin in Washington, D.C.: Faith in the Fight for Civil Rights (American Heritage)
by E. Oshel PhDWilliam Henry Jernagin was a devout Christian and fierce advocate for civil rights in the first half of the twentieth century. He was senior pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in the Mount Vernon Square neighborhood for more than forty-five years. His activism made him an internationally recognized figure. He was a foundational leader in the American civil rights movement. His residency allowed him to contribute to the collective action to abolish Jim Crow in the nation's capital. Through his office in the National Baptist Convention, he also identified the potential in a lesser-known leader of the time, Martin Luther King Jr. Jernagin's passion lifted him to leading positions in the National Baptist Convention and National Fraternal Council of Negro Churches, as well as close work with Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower. Author Ida E. Jones reveals the story of this often-overlooked leader and his fight for civil rights while living in the District of Columbia.
William Hickling Prescott: A Biography
by C. Harvey GardinerThis biography of a distinguished historian and man of letters is the first study of William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) to be written by a historian who has worked with the very themes explored by Prescott. And it is the first to treat him not only as creative historian but also as family man, as traveler and clubman, as investor and humanitarian, and as private citizen with strong political preferences. Prescott the socialite and Prescott the introvert writer emerge in the round as the magnificent amateur who helped establish canons that have enriched American historical scholarship ever since. Blending history and literature, his multivolume works won Prescott the first significant international reputation to be accorded to an American historian. Working despite persistent obstacles of health and against a penchant for society and leisure that was always part of his personality, Prescott came to be considered the finest interpreter of the Hispanic world produced by the Anglo-Saxon world. His Conquest of Mexico and Conquest of Peru were pronounced classics. C. Harvey Gardiner takes the reader back to the nineteenth century in style and in subject to present William Hickling Prescott, gentleman and scholar, firmly fixed in relationship to his community and his times. But Gardiner's Victorian stance and respect for nineteenth-century historiography do not prevent his presenting Prescott as a whole man, viewed in retrospect, stripped of myth, and evaluated for moderns. This biography of a distinguished historian and man of letters is the first study of William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859) to be written by a historian who has worked with the very themes explored by Prescott. And it is the first to treat him not only as creative historian but also as family man, as traveler and clubman, as investor and humanitarian, and as private citizen with strong political preferences. Prescott the socialite and Prescott the introvert writer emerge in the round as the magnificent amateur who helped establish canons that have enriched American historical scholarship ever since. Blending history and literature, his multivolume works won Prescott the first significant international reputation to be accorded to an American historian. Working despite persistent obstacles of health and against a penchant for society and leisure that was always part of his personality, Prescott came to be considered the finest interpreter of the Hispanic world produced by the Anglo-Saxon world. His Conquest of Mexico and Conquest of Peru were pronounced classics. C. Harvey Gardiner takes the reader back to the nineteenth century in style and in subject to present William Hickling Prescott, gentleman and scholar, firmly fixed in relationship to his community and his times. But Gardiner's Victorian stance and respect for nineteenth-century historiography do not prevent his presenting Prescott as a whole man, viewed in retrospect, stripped of myth, and evaluated for moderns.
William I: England's Conqueror (Penguin Monarchs)
by Marc MorrisOn Christmas Day 1066, William, duke of Normandy was crowned in Westminster, the first Norman king of England. It was a disaster: soldiers outside, thinking shouts of acclamation were treachery, torched the surrounding buildings. To later chroniclers, it was an omen of the catastrophes to come.During the reign of William the Conqueror, England experienced greater and more seismic change than at any point before or since. Marc Morris's concise and gripping biography sifts through the sources of the time to give a fresh view of the man who changed England more than any other, as old ruling elites were swept away, enemies at home and abroad (including those in his closest family) were crushed, swathes of the country were devastated and the map of the nation itself was redrawn, giving greater power than ever to the king. When, towards the end of his reign, William undertook a great survey of his new lands, his subjects compared it to the last judgement of God, the Domesday Book. England had been transformed forever.
William II: The Red King (Penguin Monarchs)
by John GillinghamWilliam II (1087-1100), or William Rufus, will always be most famous for his death: killed by an arrow while out hunting, perhaps through accident or perhaps murder. But, as John Gillingham makes clear in this elegant book, as the son and successor to William the Conqueror it was William Rufus who had to establish permanent Norman rule. A ruthless, irascible man, he frequently argued acrimoniously with his older brother Robert over their father's inheritance - but he also handed out effective justice, leaving as his legacy one of the most extraordinary of all medieval buildings, Westminster Hall.
William III & Mary II: Partners in Revolution (Penguin Monarchs)
by Jonathan KeatesWilliam III (1689-1702) & Mary II (1689-94) (Britain's only ever 'joint monarchs') changed the course of the entire country's history, coming to power through a coup (which involved Mary betraying her own father), reestablishing parliament on a new footing and, through commiting Britain to fighting France, initiating an immensely long period of warfare and colonial expansion. Jonathan Keates' wonderful book makes both monarchs vivid, the cold, shrewd 'Dutch' William and the shortlived Mary, whose life and death inspired Purcell to write some of his greatest music.
William IV: A King at Sea (Penguin Monarchs)
by Roger KnightWilliam IV, the 'Sailor King', reigned for just seven years. Rash and impetuous as a young man, he was sent to join the navy by his father, George III, to bring him to order, but he was overpromoted at an early age and saw his years of active service marked by a series of calamities. He was also notorious for his mounting debts and his long relationship with the actress Mrs Jordan, with whom he had ten children.Yet, as Roger Knight, one of Britain's foremost naval historians, shows in this concise and perceptive biography, William's bluff, unpolished sailor's manner made him popular with the people. Inheriting the throne amid strikes, riots and the push for parliamentary reform, he helped see the country through the great constitutional crisis of the era. Despite his many flaws, he was perhaps a better king than sailor, leaving the monarchy in a healthier state than when he found it, and enabling the smooth succession of his niece, Victoria.
William J. Forsyth: The Life And Work Of An Indiana Artist
by Rachel Berenson PerryClosely associated with artists such as T. C. Steele and J. Ottis Adams, William J. Forsyth studied at the Royal Academy in Munich then returned home to paint what he knew best--the Indiana landscape. It proved a rewarding subject. His paintings were exhibited nationally and received major awards. With full-color reproductions of Forsyth's most important paintings and previously unpublished photographs of the artist and his work, this book showcases Forsyth's fearless experiments with artistic styles and subjects. Drawing on his personal letters and other sources, Rachel Berenson Perry discusses Forsyth and his art and offers fascinating insights into his personality, his relationships with his students, and his lifelong devotion to teaching and educating the public about the importance of art.
William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism
by Robert D. RichardsonThe definitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose life and writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy, teaching, and religion—on modernism itself. Often cited as the &“father of American psychology,&” William James was an intellectual luminary who made significant contributions to at least five fields: psychology, philosophy, religious studies, teaching, and literature. A member of one of the most unusual and notable of American families, James struggled to achieve greatness amid the brilliance of his theologian father; his brother, the novelist Henry James; and his sister, Alice James. After studying medicine, he ultimately realized that his true interests lay in philosophy and psychology, a choice that guided his storied career at Harvard, where he taught some of America&’s greatest minds. But it is James&’s contributions to intellectual study that reveal the true complexity of man. In this biography that seeks to understand James&’s life through his work—including Principles of Psychology, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism—Robert D. Richardson has crafted an exceptionally insightful work that explores the mind of a genius, resulting in &“a gripping and often inspiring story of intellectual and spiritual adventure&” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). &“A magnificent biography.&” —The Washington Post
William Jefferson Clinton (Profiles of the Presidents)
by Ann HeinrichsA biography discussing the personal life, education, and political career of the forty-second President of the United States, Bill Clinton.
William John Wills: Pioneer of the Australian Outback
by John KisteIn 1860 the Australian interior was unmapped and unknown to European settlers. When the Victorian Exploring Expedition tasked Robert O’Hara Burke, William John Wills and a party of nineteen men with crossing the country from South to North, this was soon to change. Following their slow and arduous journey from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, John Van der Kiste gets to the heart of the expedition and the men involved. This book explores the way in which poor leadership skills, explosive characters and limited rations pushed the explorers to the limits of human capability. By 1861 the crossing had been declared a success, but only one man returned from the Gulf of Carpentaria. For the first time, William John Wills’ short life is examined in its entirety. In doing so, Van der Kiste details the character and motivations behind the man whose meticulous diaries secured the Wills name for posterity. Now 150 years on, Wills’ biography is a gripping tale of human endeavour.
William L. Dawson (American Composers)
by Gwynne Kuhner BrownWilliam L. Dawson is recognized for his genre-defining choral spirituals and for his Negro Folk Symphony, a masterpiece enjoying a twenty-first-century renaissance. Gwynne Kuhner Brown’s engaging and tirelessly researched biography reintroduces a musical leader whose legacy is more important today than ever. Born in 1899, Dawson studied at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He worked as a church, jazz, and orchestral musician in Kansas City and Chicago in the 1920s while continuing his education as a composer. He then joined the Tuskegee faculty, where for 25 years he led the Tuskegee Institute Choir to national prominence through performances of spirituals at the opening of Radio City Music Hall, on radio and television, and at the White House. The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski premiered Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony in 1934. Engaging and long overdue, William L. Dawson celebrates a pioneering Black composer whose contributions to African American music, history, and education inspire performers and audiences to this day.
William L. Shirer: The Start, 1904–1930; The Nightmare Years, 1930–1940; A Native's Return, 1945–1988 (Twentieth Century Journey)
by William L. ShirerNow in one volume: the three-part autobiography from the National Book Award–winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The former CBS foreign correspondent and historian provides an invaluable look back at his life—and the events that forged the twentieth century. The Start (1904-1930): In the first of a three-volume series, Shirer tells the story of his early life, growing up in Cedar Rapids, and later serving as a new reporter in Paris. The Nightmare Years (1930-1940): In the second of a three-volume series, Shirer chronicles his time in Europe as Hitler dominated Germany and began one of the most dangerous conflicts in world history. A Native&’s Return (1945-1988): The most personal of the three volumes, this edition offers an honest look at the many personal and professional setbacks Shirer experienced after World War II ended—and delivers a fascinating take on the aftermath of the war. Series praise &“Mr. Shirer stirs the ashes of memory in a personal way that results in both a strong view of world events and of the need for outspoken journalism. Had Mr. Shirer been merely a bland &‘objective&’ reporter without passion while covering Hitler&’s Third Reich, this book and his other histories could never have been written.&” —The New York Times &“Included in Shirer&’s well-wrought narrative are such little-known events as the trials of American broadcasters who propagandized for the Third Reich during WWII, as well as such more familiar matters as the McCarthyism of the 1950s. The author&’s comments are refreshingly unfettered by self-consciousness . . . A fine, fitting conclusion to an important work of autobiography.&” —Kirkus Reviews
William Levi Dawson: American Music Educator (American Made Music Series)
by Mark Hugh MaloneWilliam Levi Dawson (1899–1990) overcame adversity and Jim Crow racism to become a nationally recognized composer, choral arranger, conductor, and professor of music. In William Levi Dawson: American Music Educator, Mark Hugh Malone tells the fascinating tale of Dawson’s early life, quest for education, rise to success at the Tuskegee Institute, achievement of national notoriety as a composer, and retirement years spent conducting choirs throughout the US and world.From his days as a student at Tuskegee in the final years of Booker T. Washington’s presidency, Dawson continually pursued education in music, despite racial barriers to college admission. Returning to Tuskegee later in life, he became director of the School of Music. Under his direction, the Tuskegee Choir achieved national recognition by singing at Radio City Music Hall, presenting concerts for Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and performing on nationwide radio and television broadcasts.Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, only the second extended musical work to be written by an African American, was premiered by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in both Philadelphia and New York City. Dawson’s arrangements of spirituals, the original folk music of African Americans enslaved in America during the antebellum period, quickly became highly sought-after choral works. This biographical account of Dawson's life is narrated with a generous sprinkling of his personal memories and photographs.
William Livingston's American Revolution (Haney Foundation Series)
by James J. Gigantino IIWilliam Livingston's American Revolution explores how New Jersey's first governor experienced the American Revolution and managed a state government on the war's front lines. A wartime bureaucrat, Livingston played a pivotal role in a pivotal place, prosecuting the war on a daily basis for eight years. Such second-tier founding fathers as Livingston were the ones who actually administered the war and guided the day-to-day operations of revolutionary-era governments, serving as the principal conduits between the local wartime situation and the national demands placed on the states.In the first biography of Livingston published since the 1830s, James J. Gigantino's examination is as much about the position he filled as about the man himself. The reluctant patriot and his roles as governor, member of the Continental Congress, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention quickly became one, as Livingston's distinctive personality molded his office's status and reach. A tactful politician, successful lawyer, writer, satirist, political operative, gardener, soldier, and statesman, Livingston became the longest-serving patriot governor during a brutal war that he had not originally wanted to fight or believed could be won. Through Livingston's life, Gigantino examines the complex nature of the conflict and the choice to wage it, the wartime bureaucrats charged with administering it, the constant battle over loyalty on the home front, the limits of patriot governance under fire, and the ways in which wartime experiences affected the creation of the Constitution.
William Lloyd Garrison and the Fight Against Slavery: Selections from The Liberator (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
by William E. Cain William Lloyd GarrisonAn important collection of primary sources regarding the history of antislavery agitation in the U.S. before the Civil War. A must for all students of American history.
William Lowndes Yancey and the Coming of the Civil War
by Eric H. WaltherIWilliam Lowndes Yancey (1814-63) was one of the leading secessionists of the Old South. In this first comprehensive biography, Eric H. Walther examines the personality and political life of the uncompromising fire-eater.Born in Georgia but raised in the North by a fiercely abolitionist stepfather and an emotionally unstable mother, Yancey grew up believing that abolitionists were cruel, meddling, and hypocritical. His personal journey led him through a series of mentors who transformed his political views, and upon moving to frontier Alabama in his twenties, Yancey's penchant for rhetorical and physical violence was soon channeled into a crusade to protect slaveholders' rights.Yancey defied Northern Democrats at their national nominating convention in 1860, rending the party and setting the stage for secession after the election of Abraham Lincoln. Selected to introduce Jefferson Davis in Montgomery as the president-elect of the Confederacy, Yancey also served the Confederacy as a diplomat and a senator before his death in 1863, just short of his forty-ninth birthday.More than a portrait of an influential political figure before and during the Civil War, this study also presents a nuanced look at the roots of Southern honor, violence, and understandings of manhood as they developed in the nineteenth century.
William Lowndes and the Transition of Southern Politics, 1782-1822
by Carl J. VippermanThis first scholarly biography of Lowndes establishes his place in history, even though he was overshadowed by contemporaries John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay, and provides valuable insights into our understanding of the development and decline of republicanism. Lowndes served in Congress during a time when the rising spirit of democracy challenged the elitist character of republicanism and advanced majority rule, thus raising questions concerning the nature of the Union.Originally published in 1989.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Volume 1, 1874-1923
by Robert Macgregor DawsonWhen William Lyon Mackenzie King retired in 1948, he had held office as Prime Minister of Canada for a total of 7829 days, a longer term of service than that of any other Prime Minister in the history of the British Commonwealth. Like Roosevelt, his contemporary of many momentous years, he was greatly admired and greatly hated, but none dispute the tremendous influence he exerted on the history of his country, or, indeed, his place in world history. In this official biography, great days of Canadian history are given life and meaning, and at the centre of all the events is a phenomenal personality gifted with intelligence, intrepidity, and luck, with amazing insight into his times and the nature of his political occupation. The biography, based largely on sources hitherto unavailable, permits the reader to witness the unfolding of important events as a chief participant himself saw them and to view far-reaching decisions through the eyes of the man who made them, for Mackenzie King speaks in his own words through much of these volumes. They allow us to observe an extraordinarily complex and powerful personality at work. In this first volume, Mackenzie King's life and political career are traced up to the firm establishment of his first administration as Prime Minister. The forces in is background, education, and early interests which eventually led him into politics are brought out vividly. It is both fascinating and touching, for instance, to observe in letters and personal papers the intimate family relationships which so largely determined what Mackenzie Kind became. Once public service had been chosen, he displayed such talents that a leading role seems almost inevitable to all who knew him.
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Volume II, 1924-1932: The Lonely Heights
by H. NeatbyThis second volume of the official biography of Mackenzie King (the first, written by R. MacG. Dawson, was published in 1958) covers the years 1924 to 1932. At the opening of this period, King was still an inexperienced and untried leader but the next few years were to test his qualities as he dealt with the concessions and compromises necessary in governing with an unstable majority and finally emerged the winner from the complicated chess games of parliamentary sessions. The Liberal success in the election of 1926 returned to office a Prime Minister with confidence in his own judgment and more inclined to hold firm to his own opinions against opposition from his colleagues or his party. After this election and the outcome of that in 1930, which handed over to the Conservatives the problems of the depression, the myth of King's political infallibility continued to grow. But a less able man would have been less lucky. As this book shows, King was a consummate party leader, with an unusual sensitivity to political danger and an unusual capacity to learn from his mistakes. In the years 1924 to 1932 a number of familiar Canadian issues had to be dealt with: freight rates on land and sea, the debate between a tariff for protection, the problems of the Maritime Provinces, the natural resources of the Prairie Provinces, old age pensions, the St. Lawrence Waterway, immigration. There were also other more striking incidents, which the author chronicles with verve and style: the customs scandal of 1926, the heady pleasures of the years of prosperity and the dismal frustrations of the years of depression, the election of 1930, the Beauharnois sensation. Throughout skilful use is made of the public records of these years, of the King papers, and the copious pages of King's own daily diary of his political problems, his conversations with colleagues and diplomats, his worries and frustrations over difficult decisions, his own aims and ideals. Over these years King developed and strengthened his convictions about the over-riding concern of all Canadian political leaders, national unity. Only a proper estimate of what was desirable, what was necessary, and what was impossible could guide in the working out of policies that would be tolerable by the whole of Canada, and it was, of course, King's firm belief and the guiding principle of his political life that the cause of national unity was best served by the cause of Liberalism, since that party above all represented the major sections or groups in Canada and alone could effect a satisfactory compromise among them. This book, brilliant and effective in conception and execution, is a study of political leadership in a divided nation, a nation which even in calmer times is proverbially difficult to govern. It is also a revealing and convincing study of a complex man whose drab public image concealed unsuspected eccentricities.