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Arctic Wings
by L. Ron HubbardSpring has come to White Bear Landing--and so has the law, in the firm hands of Royal Mounted policeman and pilot Bob Dixon. Dixon's as gruff, tough and good-looking as Russell Crowe, and in this outpost halfway between the arctic mines and civilization, he's known for taking the law to extremes.More than once Dixon has meted out his own brand of rough justice with hard fists and hot lead, but now the tables have turned. The past has come back to haunt him, he's been set up as a murder suspect, and a rogue's gallery of enemies are lining up to settle old scores . . .Out on the icy tundra, on the edge of the world, revenge can be cold--and brutal. Dixon's only hope is to let the trust of a good friend and the love of a good woman lead the way to true justice and redemption--on Arctic Wings.Hubbard never wrote a word, conceived a character, or described a setting without first finding out all he could about the people and places that drove his stories. He wrote: "I began to search for research on the theory that if I could get a glimmering of anything lying beyond a certain horizon, I could go deep enough to find an excellent story. I read exhaustively. I wanted information and nothing else." His exhaustive research--and search for the excellent story--comes through brilliantly in Arctic Wings.
Arcticologies: Early Modern Actions for Our Warmer World
by Lowell DuckertExploring the frozen past to rethink our warming future Do we really know what cold is? In Arcticologies, Lowell Duckert delves into early modern European texts to trace how representations of frigidity from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have contributed to historical understandings of climate and contemporary debates on climate change. Arguing that human culture and science are, in fact, indebted to the cold, Duckert suggests that these early depictions offer critical terms for advancing the aims of climate-change activism and assisting in counterapocalyptic thinking. An imaginative and intellectual journey, Arcticologies reveals the enduring role of cold in wide-ranging storytelling traditions. It draws on Shakespeare&’s Hamlet and Othello and the works of Thomas Dekker, René Descartes, and Thomas Hobbes and is informed throughout by contemporary Indigenous writing, including that of Sheila Watt-Cloutier and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. In reflecting on these assorted accounts, Duckert sees cold as not only an environmental hardship but a source of cultural creativity and resilience, highlighting moments of collaboration between humans and the icy world, from arctic exploration to urban fairs on frozen rivers. Cold, Duckert makes clear, is more than the absence of warmth. Situating our contemporary obsession with impending planetary meltdown within the mazelike arcticologies of the past, Duckert shows how early modern cold brought about forms of curiosity, vocabulary, and interspecies relationality that can serve us today. In doing so, he asks us to identify what has been lost and who is at risk in today&’s thinning cold—while also urging us to imagine alternative futures focused not on inevitable and total collapse but on adaptation and preserving what remains.
Arde el desierto. La guerra de Ifni-Sahara (Historia Incógnita)
by Juan Pastrana Piñero1957: La guerra de Ifni-Sahara y la lucha por el poder en Marruecos La auténtica historia militar y política del último conflicto militar colonial español y la lucha por el poder político dentro del Marruecos recién independizado. Desde los acontecimientos políticos que llevaron a la guerra, el desarrollo de las operaciones militares y los últimos años de la colonia de Ifni hasta la entrega a Marruecos y análisis de la situación de posguerra en la zona. Una obra exhaustiva basada en documentación previamente ignorada o clasificada. Conozca el último conflicto colonial español en una obra que no sólo hace un análisis militar, sino que indaga en las razones políticas existentes que se hallan tanto en la política interna marroquí como en la exterior española tras el estallido de las hostilidades, así como en las repercusiones tras el alto el fuego. Arde el desierto, La guerra de Ifni-Sahara y la lucha por el poder en Marruecos es una obra equilibrada y realista en la que se analiza exhaustivamente todas las publicaciones sobre el tema, así como las investigaciones realizadas y saca a la luz documentación previamente ignorada o clasificada. Trata, además, algunos temas controvertidos como el apoyo español a los movimientos independentistas marroquíes contra Francia o la contradictoria actuación del ministro franquista Carrero Blanco. En esta obra, el historiador Juan Pastrana analiza el conflicto que enfrentó a España, Francia y el llamado Ejército de Liberación Nacional marroquí, no tan sólo desde una óptica militar, sino buscando cuáles fueron las razones de fondo para ese estallido de violencia, así como las repercusiones del conflicto en los territorios de soberanía española hasta su total incorporación a Marruecos.
Arden
by Mark TaylorThe Village of Arden was founded in 1900 by sculptor Frank Stephens and architect Will Price, both social reformers who sought to create an ideal society based on principles set forth by the American economist Henry George. With funding from Joseph Fels, a wealthy Philadelphia soap manufacturer who also financed C. R. Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft in England, Stephens and Price purchased 162 acres in northern Delaware and named their colony after the Arden forest of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. The community's motto was "You Are Welcome Hither," but Arden's founders did not anticipate the diverse and colorful mix of radicals and progressives their experiment would attract, including Upton Sinclair, muckraking author of The Jungle, and Scott Nearing, author of Living the Good Life. Through photographs, Images of America: Arden explores the early history of one of this country's most vibrant, yet little known, utopian experiments.
Ardency: A Chronicle of the Amistad Rebels
by Kevin Lowell YoungThe story of the African Americans who were abducted in the Amistad rebellion and jailed in New Haven,as a sequence of poems told in the voice of their interpreter that talks about captivity,hopes and fight for freedom.
Ardennerna 1944–1945: Hitlers Vinteroffensiv
by Christer BergströmI december 1944, precis i slutet av andra världskriget, chockade Hitler en hel värld med en mäktig tysk motoffensiv på västfronten. För andra gången i kriget blev de allierade helt överrumplade av att anfallet kom genom Ardennerna - det kuperade skogsområdet i östra Belgien och Luxemburg. De trodde fortfarande att det inte gick att föra fram en stor armé där, men blev snabbt varse hur fel de haft. Till synes oövervinneliga rullade stora tyska stridsvagnskolonner västerut. Den allra senaste tyska vapenteknologin koncentrerades till denna offensiv - väldiga Königstiger-stridsvagnar, en revolutionerande ny automatkarbin, flygande bomber och toppmoderna jetflygplan. Tyskarna satte till och med in eldrivna miniubåtar till stöd för Ardenneroffensiven! Halva amerikanska 1. armén kastades över ända och tusentals soldater togs tillfånga. Men i en liten stad, Bastogne, bet sig amerikanska fallskärmsjägare fast. Under tiden skyndade den hårdföre general Pattons armé till undsättning. Ändå krävdes det ett sex veckor långt, blodigt vinterslag - det mest förlustrika i den amerikanska arméns historia - innan tyskarna hade pressats tillbaka. Christer Bergström har intervjuat krigsveteraner, gått igenom stora mängder akrivmaterial samt rest och forskat i området. Resultatet är en stor mängd tidigare opublicerat material och nya rön som presenteras i denna genomgripande skildring av det dramatiska Ardennerslaget vintern 1944/1945. Ardennerslaget beskrivs ofta från den amerikanska utgångspunkten. Här ges båda sidors perspektiv lika stort utrymme. Inte minst lyfts veteranernas egna berättelser fram, vilket ger en mänsklig dimension åt detta blodiga slag. Boken är försedd med nära 400 illustrationer, inklusive ett stort antal aldrig tidigare publicerade fotografier, ett stort antal kartor av Samuel Svärd och 32 förstklassiga färgprofiler av stridsfordon och flygplan av den världskände profilartisten Claes Sundin. Christer Bergström, f. 1958, har ett 20-tal böcker om andra världskriget, flertalet utgivna på den internationella marknaden, bakom sig.
Ardennes 1944 Peiper & Skorzeny
by David Parker Jean-Paul PalludFrom the earliest planning stages of the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes during World War II (1939-1945), Hitler was convinced of the importance of taking the Meuse bridges. He resolved that, when his forces broke through the US lines, one special unit should be dressed in American uniforms and issued with American weapons and vehicles. In this guise they could take advantage of the surprise and shock of the breakthrough, and move forward to the Meuse bridges as if they were retreating Americans. Jean-Paul Pallud details their organisation and the fateful sequence of events that followed.
Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
by Antony BeevorThe prizewinning historian and bestselling author of D-Day and Stalingrad reconstructs the Battle of the Bulge in this riveting new account. On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his 'last gamble' in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back.The allies, taken by surprise, found themselves fighting two panzer armies. Belgian civilians abandoned their homes, justifiably afraid of German revenge. Panic spread even to Paris. While some American soldiers, overwhelmed by the German onslaught, fled or surrendered, others held on heroically, creating breakwaters which slowed the German advance. The harsh winter conditions and the savagery of the battle became comparable to the Eastern Front. In fact the Ardennes became the Western Front's counterpart to Stalingrad. There was terrible ferocity on both sides, driven by desperation and revenge, in which the normal rules of combat were breached. The Ardennes--involving more than a million men--would prove to be the battle which finally broke the back of the Wehrmacht. In this deeply researched work, with striking insights into the major players on both sides, Antony Beevor gives us the definitive account of the Ardennes offensive which was to become the greatest battle of World War II.From the Hardcover edition.
Ardennes-1944: An Analysis Of The Operational Defense
by Major Francis M. Cain IIIThis study examines the nature of the defense at the operational level of war by analyzing the Battle of the Bulge in Dec. 1944 using the concepts of blitzkrieg and "web" defense. The monograph begins by discussing the influence of defensive theory on the operational concepts of blitzkrieg and "web" defense. The German concept of blitzkrieg incorporates Clausewitz's theory of the offense by emphasizing surprise, speed, and concentration at the decisive point. The counter to the blitzkrieg offense is found in COL F.O. Miksche's concept of "web" defense. The Battle of the Bulge provides an excellent example of a "web" defense pitted against a blitzkrieg offense. The German blitzkrieg in the Ardennes in 1944 failed for many reasons: 1) Army Group B did not concentrate its strength against the most vulnerable section of the Allied line; 2) The rugged Ardennes terrain could be easily defended against attacks by mechanized forces; 3) Key American commanders (Eisenhower, Gerow, and Middleton) quickly recognized the value of holding several key road junctions (St. Vith, Malmedy, Bastogne, Marche, and Rochefort) which dominated movement through the Ardennes; 4) The Allies held the shoulders of the German penetration; 5) The Allies quickly concentrated armored and motorized units to blunt the German penetration; and 6) Army Group B lacked operational reserves and adequate logistic support. The analysis of the Ardennes shows that the defense is indeed the stronger form of war and that a "web" defense can be employed effectively against a blitzkrieg offense...The Allies effectively used a "web" defense to counter these threats. If NATO is to defeat a Soviet attack without resorting to the use of nuclear weapons, it must adopt a viable operational defensive concept. "Web" defense is such a concept.
Ardmore
by Charlsie Foust AllenAlthough part of the Chickasaw Nation, virgin soil lured pioneers into Indian Territory, and by 1900, intruders outnumbered Native Americans 10 to 1, building communities throughout Native American lands. In 1887, on a grassy prairie where buffalo had roamed, men gathered where the Santa Fe Railroad planned to build a station. By 1898, Ardmore was a thriving city with businesses, churches, electricity, and telephones. Under a new federal law in late 1898, Ardmore became an incorporated city. Several disasters including a massive explosion and two major fires almost destroyed the town, but the people who built Ardmore came from sturdy stock. After each disaster, they rebuilt, and Ardmore continued to prosper.
Ardnish Was Home: A Novel (Ardnish Ser.)
by Angus MacDonaldStationed in Gallipoli during WWI, a wounded Scottish soldier finds love as he longs for home in this novel of memory, romance and the horror of war.Gallipoli, 1916. A soldier in the British Army&’s Lovat Scouts, Young Donald Peter Gillies, lies in a hospital bed, blinded by the Turks. There by his side is Louise, a Queen Alexandra Corps nurse, Louise, who cares for him and listens to his stories of home. Donald paints a vivid picture of the western highlands coast, telling stories of how his family lived: bagpiping, sheep shearing, celidhs, illegal distilling, his mother saving the life of the people of St Kilda, the navvies building the west highland railway and the relationship between the lairds and the people. Louise in turn tells her own story of growing up in the Welsh valley: coal mining, a harsh and unforgiving upbringing. But when they suddenly find themselves cut off from the allied troops, they must make a daring escape through Turkey to Greece. The first novel in Angus MacDonald&’s acclaimed trilogy begins an epic tale spanning generation of war and of a single Scottish family.
Ardnish: A Novel
by Angus MacDonaldThis saga spanning from the Scottish Highlands to colonial South Africa is “far more than yet another wartime love story . . . impossible to put down”(Scottish Field).Ardnish, the Highlands of Scotland, 1944: On his deathbed, Donald John Gillies sends for a priest to hear his last confession. During his eighty-five years he has witnessed much—world wars, the loss of family through death and emigration, and the daily struggles faced by the small remote community.Waiting anxiously for the priest, his mind travels back to the dusty plains of South Africa in 1901, where he fought as a Lovat Scout during the Boer War, and where he met the woman who was the love of his life. Forced to abandon her and her young daughter in a British concentration camp, DJ returns to Scotland and his old life after his camp is ambushed by Boers and many of his fellow soldiers are massacred.As he lies dying, an unexpected visitor arrives at Ardnish. making it more imperative then ever for DJ to come to terms with the past and to make peace with himself—and his family—while there is still time, in this “ingeniously plotted” novel that “sweeps the reader from the smokey peat fires of the West Highlands to the baking sun of the South African veldt at the height of the Boer War” (William Dalrymple).
Are All Politics Nationalized?: Evidence from the 2020 Campaigns in Pennsylvania
by Stephen K. Medvic Matthew M. Schousen Berwood A. YostGiven the news media’s focus on national issues and debates, voters might be expected to make decisions about state and local candidates based on their views of the national parties and presidential candidates. However, nationalization as a concept, and the process by which politics becomes nationalized, are not fully understood. Are All Politics Nationalized? addresses this knowledge gap by looking at the behavior of candidates and the factors that influence voters’ electoral choices. The editors and contributors examine the 2020 elections in six Pennsylvania districts to explore the level of nationalization in campaigns for Congress and state legislature. They also question if politicians are encouraging nationalized behavior and straight ticket voting—especially with down-ballot races. Are All Politics Nationalized? concludes that issues specific to particular districts—such as fracking and local union politics—still matter, and candidates are eager to connect with voters by highlighting their ties to the local community. National politics do trickle down to local races, but races up and down the ballot are still heavily localized.
Are All Politics Nationalized?: Evidence from the 2020 Campaigns in Pennsylvania
by Stephen K. Medvic, Matthew M. Schousen and Berwood A. YostGiven the news media’s focus on national issues and debates, voters might be expected to make decisions about state and local candidates based on their views of the national parties and presidential candidates. However, nationalization as a concept, and the process by which politics becomes nationalized, are not fully understood. Are All Politics Nationalized? addresses this knowledge gap by looking at the behavior of candidates and the factors that influence voters’ electoral choices. The editors and contributors examine the 2020 elections in six Pennsylvania districts to explore the level of nationalization in campaigns for Congress and state legislature. They also question if politicians are encouraging nationalized behavior and straight ticket voting—especially with down-ballot races. Are All Politics Nationalized? concludes that issues specific to particular districts—such as fracking and local union politics—still matter, and candidates are eager to connect with voters by highlighting their ties to the local community. National politics do trickle down to local races, but races up and down the ballot are still heavily localized.
Are Numbers Real?: The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World
by Brian Clegg“A lighthearted yet far-reaching look at the history of numbers and how we use them.” —Publishers WeeklyHave you ever wondered what humans did before numbers existed? How they organized their lives, traded goods, or kept track of their treasures? What would your life be like without them?Numbers began as simple representations of everyday things, but mathematics rapidly took on a life of its own, occupying a parallel virtual world. In Are Numbers Real?, Brian Clegg explores the way that math has become more and more detached from reality, and yet despite this is driving the development of modern physics. From devising a new counting system based on goats, through the weird and wonderful mathematics of imaginary numbers and infinity, to the debate over whether mathematics has too much influence on the direction of science, this fascinating and accessible book opens the reader’s eyes to the hidden reality of the strange yet familiar entities that are numbers.Praise for Are Numbers Real?“A compact, very readable, and highly entertaining history of the development and use of mathematics to answer the important practical questions involved in advancing civilization . . . a superb introduction to mathematics, science, and that branch of philosophy devoted to exploring the nature of reality.” —Dr. James Stein, California State University, Long Beach“Clegg tackles a very deep question in his usual way; with clarity, wit and a wonderfully clear narrative writing style. For me, numbers are like natural language: They obviously don’t exist in a physical sense—you cannot trip over the number 2 in the street—yet numbers are at the heart of understanding the universe. Clegg covers a wide variety of subjects to seek out the truth of the matter in an engaging and hugely accessible way. I personally couldn’t put it down.” —Dr. Peet Morris, University of Oxford
Are Statistics Only Made of Data?: Know-how and Presupposition from the 17th and 19th Centuries (Methodos Series #20)
by Éric BrianThis book examines several epistemological regimes in studies of numerical data over the last four centuries. It distinguishes these regimes and mobilises questions present in the philosophy of science, sociology and historical works throughout the 20th century. Attention is given to the skills of scholars and their methods, their assumptions, and the socio-historical conditions that made calculations and their interpretations possible. In doing so, questions posed as early as Émile Durkheim’s and Ernst Cassirer’s ones are revisited and the concept of symbolic form is put to the test in this particular survey, conducted over long period of time. Although distinct from a methodological and epistemological point of view, today these regimes may be found together in the toolbox of statisticians and those who comment on their conclusions. As such, the book is addressed to social scientists and historians and all those who are interested in numerical productions.
Are They Out There?: Diving for Answers In a Sea of Cover-Ups
by Gene P. Abel&“If you're ready to read a realistic approach to the possibility of alien life and whether we are visited by them, you will love Are They Out There? Diving for Answers In a Sea of Cover-Ups.&” – Readers&’ FavoriteNothing in the universe is unique and alone, and therefore in other regions there must be other earths inhabited by different tribes of men and different breeds of beast. - Titus Lucretius, De Rerum Natura circa 50BCE The question, Are They Out There? is not a new one. Since ancient times, humans have wondered about the potential of alien life. Between May 1, 2023, and June 1, 2024, alone, sightings of more than seven hundred unidentified aerial phenomena were reported-and twenty-one of these cases are still under investigation. They can't be explained by common objects. In Are They Out There? retired Colonel Gene P. Abel sifts through the accounts of military professionals and eyewitnesses alike in search of the truth about extra-terrestrial visitors. Discover what Colonel Abel has uncovered, and what the government might not be telling us, in this gripping new look at the history, and potential future impact, of UFOs, and alien contact. A newly released US report on unidentified flying objects says 143 sightings since 2004 remain unexplained. It does not rule out alien activity. - The New York Times, June 25, 2021
Are U.S. Military Interventions Contagious over Time?: Intervention Timing and Its Implications for Force Planning
by Jennifer KavanaghCurrent DoD force planning processes assume that U. S. military interventions are serially independent over time. This report challenges this assumption, arguing that interventions occur in temporally dependent clusters in which the likelihood of an intervention depends on interventions in the recent past. The author used data on 66 U. S. Army contingency and peacekeeping deployments of at least company size between 1949 and 2010 and found evidence of temporal dependence between military interventions even when controlling for political, economic, and other security factors. However, the results also suggested that clustering is affected by the nature of the geopolitical regime and is stronger at certain points than others, for example, after the Cold War as compared to during the Cold War. The results suggested that as few as two military interventions above average is often enough to trigger interventions in subsequent years. Because current planning processes address only the direct force demands of a given deployment and ignore the heightened risk for additional demands created by temporal dependence, these processes may project force requirements that understate the demands placed on military deployments during a period of clustered interventions. This analysis suggests that DoD should consider modifying the integrated security constructs to incorporate serial correlation of interventions, making assumptions about the nature of the current or future geopolitical regime explicit, and assessing whether the existing set of force planning frameworks reflects the spectrum of potential future geopolitical regimes. Book jacket.
Are We Not Foreigners Here?: Indigenous Nationalism in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
by Jeffrey M. SchulzeSince its inception, the U.S.-Mexico border has invited the creation of cultural, economic, and political networks that often function in defiance of surrounding nation-states. It has also produced individual and group identities that are as subversive as they are dynamic. In Are We Not Foreigners Here?, Jeffrey M. Schulze explores how the U.S.-Mexico border shaped the concepts of nationhood and survival strategies of three Indigenous tribes who live in this borderland: the Yaqui, Kickapoo, and Tohono O'odham. These tribes have historically fought against nation-state interference, employing strategies that draw on their transnational orientation to survive and thrive. Schulze details the complexities of the tribes' claims to nationhood in the context of the border from the nineteenth century to the present. He shows that in spreading themselves across two powerful, omnipresent nation-states, these tribes managed to maintain separation from currents of federal Indian policy in both countries; at the same time, it could also leave them culturally and politically vulnerable, especially as surrounding powers stepped up their efforts to control transborder traffic. Schulze underlines these tribes' efforts to reconcile their commitment to preserving their identities, asserting their nationhood, and creating transnational links of resistance with an increasingly formidable international boundary.
Are We Rich Yet?: The Rise of Mass Investment Culture in Contemporary Britain (Berkeley Series in British Studies #21)
by Amy EdwardsAn in-depth history of how finance remade everyday life in Thatcher's Britain.Are We Rich Yet? tells the story of the financialization of British society. During the 1980s and 1990s, financial markets became part of daily life for many Britons as the practice of investing moved away from the offices of the City of London, onto Britain’s high streets, and into people’s homes. The Conservative Party claimed this shift as evidence that capital ownership was in the process of being democratized. In practice, investing became more institutionalized than ever in late-twentieth-century Britain: inclusion frequently meant tying one’s fortunes to the credit, insurance, pension, and mortgage industries to maintain independence from state-run support systems. In tracing the rise of a consumer-oriented mass investment culture, historian Amy Edwards explains how the "financial" become such a central part of British society, not only economically and politically, but socially and culturally, too. She shifts our focus away from the corridors of Whitehall and towards a cast of characters that included brokers, bankers and traders, newspaper editors, goods manufacturers, marketing departments, production companies, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary men and women. Between them, they shaped the terrain upon which political and economic reform occurred. Grappling with the interactions between structural transformation and the rhythms of everyday life, Are We Rich Yet? thus understands the rise of neoliberalism as something other than the inevitable outcome of a carefully orchestrated right-wing political revolution.
Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America
by Cullen MurphyWhat went wrong in imperial Rome, and how we can avoid it: “If you want to understand where America stands in the world today, read this."??—??Thomas E. RicksThe rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds since the beginning of our republic. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the history of Rome serves as either a triumphal call to action??—??or a dire warning of imminent collapse.In this “provocative and lively” book, Cullen Murphy points out that today we focus less on the Roman Republic than on the empire that took its place, and reveals a wide array of similarities between the two societies (The New York Times). Looking at the blinkered, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of bribery in public life; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of privatization, Murphy persuasively argues that we most resemble Rome in the burgeoning corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside??—??two things that must be changed if we are to avoid Rome’s fate.“Are We Rome? is just about a perfect book. . . . I wish every politician would spend an evening with this book.”??—??James Fallows
Are We There Yet?
by Dan SantatCaldecott Medalist Dan Santat takes readers on the road trip of a lifetime! "Are we there yet?" Every parent has heard this classic kid question on a long car ride--and after reading this astonishingly inventive new book (that even turns upside down for several pages!), you'll never look at being bored the same way again. Let's face it: everyone knows that car rides can be boring. And when things get boring, time slows down. In this book, a boy feels time slowing down so much that it starts going backward--into the time of pirates! Of princesses! Of dinosaurs! The boy was just trying to get to his grandmother's birthday party, but instead he's traveling through Ancient Egypt and rubbing shoulders with Ben Franklin. When time flies, who knows where--or when--he'll end up.
Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present, And Driverless
by Dan AlbertTech giants and automakers have been teaching robots to drive. Robot-controlled cars have already logged millions of miles. These technological marvels promise cleaner air, smoother traffic, and tens of thousands of lives saved. But even if robots turn into responsible drivers, are we ready to be a nation of passengers? In Are We There Yet?, Dan Albert combines historical scholarship with personal narrative to explore how car culture has suffused America’s DNA. The plain, old-fashioned, human-driven car built our economy, won our wars, and shaped our democratic creed as it moved us about. Driver’s ed made teenagers into citizens; auto repair made boys into men. Crusades against the automobile are nothing new. Its arrival sparked battles over street space, pitting the masses against the millionaires who terrorized pedestrians. When the masses got cars of their own, they learned to love driving too. During World War II, Washington nationalized Detroit and postwar Americans embraced car and country as if they were one. Then came 1960s environmentalism and the energy crises of the 1970s. Many predicted, even welcomed, the death of the automobile. But many more rose to its defense. They embraced trucker culture and took to Citizen Band radios, demanding enough gas to keep their big boats afloat. Since the 1980s, the car culture has triumphed and we now drive more miles than ever before. Have we reached the end of the road this time? Fewer young people are learning to drive. Ride hailing is replacing car buying, and with electrification a long and noble tradition of amateur car repair—to say nothing of the visceral sound of gasoline exploding inside a big V8—will come to an end. When a robot takes over the driver’s seat, what’s to become of us? Are We There Yet? carries us from muddy tracks to superhighways, from horseless buggies to driverless electric vehicles. Like any good road trip, it’s an adventure so fun you don’t even notice how much you’ve learned along the way.
Are You Dancing?: Showbands, Popular Music, and Memory in Modern Ireland (Irish Culture, Memory, Place)
by Rebecca S. MillerFrom the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, showbands were all the rage among Ireland's dancing audiences. Performing covers of rock 'n' roll and pop hits from American and British weekly Top 10 charts, they riveted their fans, dismayed many parish priests, and offered Irish youth a taste of modernism and pop culture from outside of Ireland.In Are You Dancing?, Rebecca S. Miller tells the story of how these working-class bands brought new sounds and choreographies to the Irish and Northern Irish pop landscape. Both as a response to and an agent in Ireland's changing economic landscape, showbands quickly grew into a hugely lucrative commercial industry. At the same time, they nudged open doors for Irish women to take to the stage as pop stars, rewarded a generation of entrepreneurs, and created the template for Ireland's popular music industry. Miller draws upon interviews with more than 80 musicians, agents, managers, fans, and clergy, to reveal the vast interplay of social, economic, and cultural changes that ensued with the Irish showband era.Drawing upon an extensive catalog of ethnographic and archival research, Miller presents an overlooked era of musical performances that revolutionized Irish entertainment.
Are You John?
by John Stanley DennisIn 1954, a young boy escapes the emotional torment of his home, fleeing into the vast, unforgiving Australian bush. Alone and naive, he embarks on a perilous journey spanning seventy years, where every encounter shapes his destiny. Who will he meet in this wild frontier? Will he find allies among the rugged inhabitants, or will the darker elements of society pull him into their nefarious undertakings? As he navigates the trials of life, from the innocence of youth to the wisdom of age, we witness a profound transformation. Can he rise above the harsh realities and succeed, or will he be consumed by the very environment he sought refuge in?