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Haiti's Influence on Antebellum America: Slumbering Volcano in the Caribbean
by Alfred N. HuntThe Haitian Revolution began in 1791 as a slave revolt on the French colonial island of Saint Domingue and ended thirteen years later with the founding of an independent black republic. Waves of French West Indians -- slaves, white colonists, and free blacks -- fled the upheaval and flooded southern U.S. ports -- most notably New Orleans -- bringing with them everything from French opera to voodoo. Alfred N. Hunt discusses the ways these immigrants affected southern agriculture, architecture, language, politics, medicine, religion, and the arts. He also considers how the events in Haiti influenced the American slavery-emancipation debate and spurred developments in black militancy and Pan-Africanism in the United States. By effecting the development of racial ideology in antebellum America, Hunt concludes, the Haitian Revolution was a major contributing factor to the attitudes that led to the Civil War.
Haiti's Paper War: Post-Independence Writing, Civil War, and the Making of the Republic, 1804–1954 (America and the Long 19th Century #25)
by Chelsea StieberTurns to the written record to re-examine the building blocks of a nationPicking up where most historians conclude, Chelsea Stieber explores the critical internal challenge to Haiti’s post-independence sovereignty: a civil war between monarchy and republic. What transpired was a war of swords and of pens, waged in newspapers and periodicals, in literature, broadsheets, and fliers. In her analysis of Haitian writing that followed independence, Stieber composes a new literary history of Haiti, that challenges our interpretations of both freedom struggles and the postcolonial. By examining internal dissent during the revolution, Stieber reveals that the very concept of freedom was itself hotly contested in the public sphere, and it was this inherent tension that became the central battleground for the guerre de plume—the paper war—that vied to shape public sentiment and the very idea of Haiti.Stieber’s reading of post-independence Haitian writing reveals key insights into the nature of literature, its relation to freedom and politics, and how fraught and politically loaded the concepts of “literature” and “civilization” really are. The competing ideas of liberté, writing, and civilization at work within postcolonial Haiti have consequences for the way we think about Haiti’s role—as an idea and a discursive interlocutor—in the elaboration of black radicalism and black Atlantic, anticolonial, and decolonial thought. In so doing, Stieber reorders our previously homogeneous view of Haiti, teasing out warring conceptions of the new nation that continued to play out deep into the twentieth century.
The Haj
by Leon UrisA proud Arab family in Palestine struggles to hold on to its identity during the birth of the State of Israel In the early 1920s, young Ibrahim al Soukori has achieved his dreams of heading his small Palestinian town, becoming a proud father, and making the pilgrimage to Mecca. But his family's journey has just begun, and soon global war and Israel's formation force them on a path to possible dissolution. Ibrahim's sons and daughters squabble and find peace with the nearby kibbutz, suffer betrayals, and hold together even when displaced to distant refugee camps. Written by an author best known for his sympathetic portrayal of Israel's difficult birth, The Haj speaks to the history of a troubled region from the perspective of a remarkable Arab dynasty. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Leon Uris including rare photos from the author's estate.
Haj to Utopia: How the Ghadar Movement Charted Global Radicalism and Attempted to Overthrow the British Empire
by Maia RamnathIn The Haj to Utopia, Maia Ramnath tells the dramatic story of Ghadar, the Indian anticolonial movement that attempted overthrow of the British Empire. Founded by South Asian immigrants in California, Ghadar--which is translated as "mutiny"--quickly became a global presence in East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and East Africa. Ramnath brings this epic struggle to life as she traces Ghadar's origins to the Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, its establishment of headquarters in Berkeley, California, and its fostering by anarchists in London, Paris, and Berlin. Linking Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1914 to Ghadar's declaration of war on Britain, Ramnath vividly recounts how 8,000 rebels were deployed from around the world to take up the battle in Hindustan. The Haj to Utopia demonstrates how far-flung freedom fighters managed to articulate a radical new world order out of seemingly contradictory ideas.
The Hajj
by Tagliacozzo, Eric and Toorawa, Shawkat M. Eric Tagliacozzo Shawkat M. ToorawaEvery year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world converge on Mecca and its precincts to perform the rituals associated with the Hajj and have been doing so since the seventh century. In this volume, scholars from a range of fields - including history, religion, anthropology, and literature - together tell the story of the Hajj and explain its significance as one of the key events in the Muslim religious calendar. By outlining the parameters of the Hajj from its beginnings to the present day, the contributors have produced a global study that takes in the vast geographies of belief in the world of Islam. This volume pays attention to the diverse aspects of the Hajj, as lived every year by hundreds of millions of Muslims, touching on its rituals, its regional forms, the role of gender, its representation in art, and its organization on a global scale.
Hakim’s Odyssey: Book 1: From Syria to Turkey
by Fabien ToulméWhat does it mean to be a "refugee"? It is easy for those who live in relative freedom to ignore or even to villainize people who have been forced to flee their homes. After all, it can be hard to identify with others’ experiences when you haven’t been in their shoes.In Hakim’s Odyssey, we see firsthand how war can make anyone a refugee. Hakim, a successful young Syrian who had his whole life ahead of him, tells his story: how war forced him to leave everything behind, including his family, his friends, his home, and his business. After the Syrian uprising in 2011, Hakim was arrested and tortured, his town was bombed, his business was seized by the army, and members of his family were arrested or disappeared. This first leg of his odyssey follows Hakim as he travels from Syria to Lebanon, Lebanon to Jordan, and Jordan to Turkey, where he struggles to earn a living and dreams of one day returning to his home.This graphic novel is necessary reading for our time. Alternately hopeful and heartbreaking, Hakim’s Odyssey is a story about what it means to be human in a world that sometimes fails to be humane.
Haking: Lt Gen Sir Richard Haking, XI Corps Commander 1915–18, A Study in Corps Command
by Michael SeniorSir Richard Haking commanded the British XI Corps from 1915 to 1918 mainly in France, but also in Italy (December 1917-March 1918). This first study of Haking takes the form of a review and analysis of his career as a Corps Commander, placing the activities of XI Corps in the context of events on the Western and Italian Fronts. It has three aims. First, it is intended to make a balanced assessment of Haking as a Corps Commander in the light of an established popular reputation, which places him firmly in the donkey category of First World War generals. The second aim is to examine how Haking carried out his role as a Corps Commander, and the third aim is to relate the experiences of Haking and XI Corps to a number of important topics connected with the conduct of the war: trench warfare on the Western Front, with particular reference to the much-criticized attack at Fromelles in July 1916; the British involvement in Italy; the relationship with the Portuguese Expeditionary Force in France; and the British victories in 1918. Reference is made to several key operating issues such as command and control on the Western Front; the learning curve in the BEF; the doctrine of the offensive; and the British policy on defense in depth. Each is discussed taking account of Hakings experiences as XI Corps Commander. The study concludes, contrary to the general view, that, overall, Haking made a positive contribution to the conduct of the war, and that his dismal reputation is largely unjustified.
The Hakluyt Handbook: Volumes I-II (Hakluyt Society, Second Series #145)
by D. B. QuinnThe Hakluyt Handbook provides a reference guide to the works of the Reverend Richard Hakluyt (1552-1616) and a critical evaluation of his achievements as a collector, editor, translator and author of travel literature. In Volume I, part one consists of a series of essays by specialists in the various field with which Hakluyt was concerned and attempts to evaluate his significance for historians, geographers and students of literature and society; part two comprises an analysis of the quality of his selections of material for his greatest collection The Principal Navigations...of the English Nation in a series of regional studies; and part three is a chronology of his life and writings expanded from that in G.B. Parks, Richard Hakluyt and the English Voyagers (1928). Parts four and five (in Volume II) analyse the contents and sources of Hakluyt's three major works Divers Voyages (1582), Principall Navigations (1589) and Principal Navigations (1598-1600), and provide detailed bibliographical material on the works with which Hakluyt was associated. A critical bibliography of secondary works and an analytical list of the publications of the Hakluyt Society, 1846-1973, complete the work. An index of books and articles referred to in the volumes is included. The Hakluyt Handbook has been under consideration by the Hakluyt Society for more than a decade and owes much to the late R.A. Skelton (1906-70). The editor Professor D.B. Quinn has had the generous co-operation of more than twenty members of the Society in its compilation. It is hoped that the volumes will not only have value to members of the Society and to many students of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, but that they will stimulate further research on Richard Hakluyt and a further refinement of our knowledge of Hakluyt's sources and bibliography. The main pagination of this and the following volume (Second Series 145) is continuous. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first publis
Hakluyt's Promise: An Elizabethan's Obsession for an English America
by Peter C. MancallRichard Hakluyt the younger, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, advocated the creation of English colonies in the New World at a time when the advantages of this idea were far from self-evident. This book describes in detail the life and times of Hakluyt, a trained minister who became an editor of travel accounts. Hakluyt's Promise demonstrates his prominent role in the establishment of English America as well as his interests in English opportunities in the East Indies. The volume presents nearly 50 illustrations--many unpublished since the sixteenth century--and offers a fresh view of Hakluyt's milieu and the central concerns of the Elizabethan age. Though he never traveled farther than Paris, young Hakluyt spent much of the 1580s recording information about the western hemisphere and became an international authority on overseas exploration. The book traces his rise to prominence as a source of information and inspiration for England's policy makers, including the queen, and his advocacy for colonies in Roanoke and Jamestown. Hakluyt's thought was shaped by debates that stretched across Europe, and his interests ranged just as widely, encompassing such topics as peaceful coexistence with Native Americans, the New World as a Protestant Holy Land, and in, his later life, trade with the Spice Islands.
Hal Hartley (Contemporary Film Directors)
by Mark L. BerrettiniSince the late 1980s, Hal Hartley has challenged standards of realist narrative cinema with daring narrative constructions, character development, and the creation of an unconventional visual world. In this pioneering critical overview of his work and its cultural-historical context, Mark L. Berrettini discusses seven of Hartley's feature films, including The Unbelievable Truth, Trust, Simple Men, Amateur, Henry Fool, Fay Grim, and The Book of Life. Drawing on journalism, theories of representation, narrative and genre, and cinema history, Berrettini discusses the absurdist-comedic representation of serious themes in Hartley's films: impossible love, coincidence and human relations, extreme isolation, and the restrictions posed by gender norms. He looks at the films' consistently absurd tone and notes how these themes reappear within framing narratives that shift from the seemingly mundane in Hartley's earliest works to the vibrantly creative and fantastic in his later films. Employing close analysis and theories related to cinematic narrative and to realism, the book's critical appraisal of Hartley's films considers aspects of American independent cinema and postwar European cinema, antirealism, and minimalism. The volume concludes with a pair of in-depth interviews with the director from two distinct points in his career.
Hal Moore: A Soldier Once . . . And Always
by Mike GuardiaHal Moore, one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last fifty years, has until now been best known to the public for being portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie We Were Soldiers. In this first-ever, fully illustrated biography, we finally learn the full story of one of America's true military heroes.A 1945 graduate of West Point, Moore's first combats occurred during the Korean War, where he fought in the battles of Old Baldy, T-Bone, and Pork Chop Hill. At the beginning of the Vietnam War, Moore commanded the 1st Battalion of the 7th Cavalry in the first full-fledged battle between US and North Vietnamese regulars. Drastically outnumbered and nearly overrun, Moore led from the front, and though losing seventy-nine soldiers, accounted for 1,200 of the enemy before the Communists withdrew. This Battle of Ia Drang pioneered the use of "air mobile infantry"--delivering troops into battle via helicopter--which became the staple of US operations for the remainder of the war. He later wrote of his experiences in the bestselling book We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young.Following his tour in Vietnam, he assumed command of the 7th Infantry Division, forward-stationed in South Korea, and in 1971, he took command of the Army Training Center at Fort Ord, California. In this capacity, he oversaw the US Army's transition from a conscript-based to an all-volunteer force. He retired as a lieutenant general in 1977.At this writing, Hal Moore is ninety years old and living quietly in Auburn, Alabama. He graciously allowed the author interviews and granted full access to his files and collection of letters, documents, and never-before-published photographs.
Halakhah in the Making: The Development of Jewish Law from Qumran to the Rabbis
by Aharon ShemeshHalakhah in the Making offers the first comprehensive study of the legal material found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and its significance in the greater history of Jewish religious law. Aharon pioneering study revives an issue long dormant in religious scholarship: namely, the relationship between rabbinic laws.
Halal Sex: The Intimate Lives of Muslim Women in North America
by Sheima BenembarekAn unprecedented glimpse into the sex lives of female and gender-expansive Muslims living across Canada and the United States.In the Muslim world, sex is permissible (or halal) only within the confines of marriage. Outside of wedlock, the act is considered haram, a sin of the faith. Girls are taught to protect their virginity; their mothers, if not forgoing &“the talk&” altogether, obscure the facts with elliptical language and metaphors.So, what happens when immigrants and the children of immigrants set about pursuing an open and active sex life on a more sexually liberated continent, amid western peers and attitudes? The six deeply personal stories in Halal Sex attempt to answer this question, bringing a hushed conversation out into the open.Within these pages you&’ll meet Azar, a non-binary trans Sufi; Bunmi, a Nigerian navigating shame and Tinder; Eman, a lesbian stand-up comic in an interfaith marriage; Taslim, a virgin in her forties struggling to erect healthy boundaries; and Khadijah, an exotic dancer and sex worker.With great empathy, Sheima Benembarek makes space for the honesty and vulnerability of each participant and handles their stories with gentleness and care. What emerges is a tapestry of a diverse Islam—encompassing a wide variety of cultural and religious and socioeconomic backgrounds—and a frank, feminist contribution to the advancement of Muslim sexual education and pleasure.
El halcón (La guardia de los Highlanders #Volumen 2)
by Monica McCartyEl segundo libro de la serie de La Guardia de los Highlanders. Una marea de pasión arrolladora... Erik MacSorley es un navegante experto que jamás ha sido doblegado por tormenta o mujer alguna... hasta el día que rescata del mar a una muchacha. Un aspecto vulgar enmascara sin embargo su identidad: se trata de lady Elyne de Burgh, la hija del noble más poderoso de Irlanda. Pero aún peor es que esta encantadora sirena parezca a la vez fogosa e impenetrable, y Erik no tendrá sino que redoblar su empeño para averiguar la verdad. Este tipo de retos pueden hacer olvidar la guerra a cualquiera, pero no a Erik. Sospecha también que Ellie esconde algunos secretos que podrían poner en peligro la misión que le ha sido encomendada: permitir el regreso del rey Bruce a Escocia para reclamar el trono. Mientras la batalla por un rey y un país se libra entre las orillasde Escocia e Irlanda, ¿conseguirá Ellie domar al guerrero legendario a quien todos llaman el Halcón?
El halcón (La guardia de los Highlanders #Volumen 2)
by Monica McCartyEl segundo libro de la serie de La Guardia de los Highlanders. Una marea de pasión arrolladora... Erik MacSorley es un navegante experto que jamás ha sido doblegado por tormenta o mujer alguna... hasta el día que rescata del mar a una muchacha. Un aspecto vulgar enmascara sin embargo su identidad: se trata de lady Elyne de Burgh, la hija del noble más poderoso de Irlanda. Pero aún peor es que esta encantadora sirena parezca a la vez fogosa e impenetrable, y Erik no tendrá sino que redoblar su empeño para averiguar la verdad. Este tipo de retos pueden hacer olvidar la guerra a cualquiera, pero no a Erik. Sospecha también que Ellie esconde algunos secretos que podrían poner en peligro la misión que le ha sido encomendada: permitir el regreso del rey Bruce a Escocia para reclamar el trono. Mientras la batalla por un rey y un país se libra entre las orillasde Escocia e Irlanda, ¿conseguirá Ellie domar al guerrero legendario a quien todos llaman el Halcón?
El halcón de Mayo
by Elisabetta BriccaUna historia de lucha por la libertad y los grandes ideales. Pasión y aventura en la Irlanda de la Gran Carestía. Un joven hombre de la nobleza, que vuelve a sus orígenes para hacerse cargo de nuevas responsabiidades; que no puede sofocar el llamado de la sangre, ni olvidar el pasado de una infancia dolorosa. Una hermosa mujer, campesina plebeya, que pelea y lucha por la subsistencia y contra el hambre y la pobreza. Ambos defendiendo los mismos ideales y anhelando la vida en libertad. El encuentro de dos mundos opuestos, a través del amor y la lucha por la tierra amada que reclama justicia.
El halcón y el lirio (Destinos en la tormenta #Volumen 3)
by Zahara C. OrdóñezUna preciosa historia de amor repleta de emociones intensas y aventuras. «Me da igual que me digas que no puede ser, porque hace poco que nos conocemos. Te equivocas. Llevas toda mi vida en mis sueños y ahí ya te he besado cientos de veces». Gabriela tiene el corazón roto. Perder al amor de su vida le ha dejado un vacío insoportable. Pasa sus días refugiada en las tareas cotidianas de la venta y en la compañía de su madre, esperando que el tiempo mitigue el dolor. Tristán es un joven de buena posición, amante de la poesía y con grandes sueños por cumplir. A pesar de los problemas familiares y las expectativas que de él se tienen, no pierde la esperanza de vivir la vida conforme a sus ideales. Cuando Gabriela y Tristán se encuentran no pueden evitar sentir que sus almas son afines. Empieza a anidar en sus corazones un sentimiento increíblemente hermoso, pero la posición, los secretos y las sombras del pasado se ciernen sobre ellos cual tempestad poniendo a prueba su amor y su fortaleza.
Halcyon: A novel
by Elliot AckermanA chilling novel set in an alternate version of America&’s recent past—about two self-made men confronting a world that seems to be moving on without themVirginia, 2004. Gore is entering his second term as president. Our narrator, Martin Neumann, recently divorced, is living at Halcyon, the estate of renowned lawyer and World War II hero Robert Ableson. When news breaks that scientists funded by the Gore administration have discovered a cure for death, it calls into question everything Martin thought he understood about life, not least his work as a historian. Who is Ableson, really, and why did he draw Martin into his orbit? Is this new science a miraculous good or an insidious evil?Stretching from pivotal elections to intimate family secrets, from the Battle of Saipan to the toppling of Confederate monuments, Halcyon is a profound and probing novel that grapples with what history means, who is affected by it, and how the complexities of our shared future rest on the dual foundations of remembering and forgetting.
The Haldanes
by Jessica Stirling Writing As Ca Roline Crosby Caroline CrosbyA compelling, beautifully-observed story of growing up, of anguish and friendship, true and false, set in London, Scotland and the Peak District. The Haldanes were her mother's family. Not that Pauline had much to do with them after her mother Barbara deserted her husband and child. But the Haldanes had money, and money is power. So when, soon after the end of the First World War, her father goes broke, they are prepared to help - but at a price. Set in London, Scotland and the Peak District, The Haldanes is a compelling, beautifully-observed story of growing up, of anguish and friendship, true and false, during the Twenties when all the old values and rules are under attack. 'She writes in bright colours with bold, confident strokes' Glasgow Herald
The Haldanes
by Jessica Stirling Writing As Ca Roline Crosby Caroline CrosbyA compelling, beautifully-observed story of growing up, of anguish and friendship, true and false, set in London, Scotland and the Peak District. The Haldanes were her mother's family. Not that Pauline had much to do with them after her mother Barbara deserted her husband and child. But the Haldanes had money, and money is power. So when, soon after the end of the First World War, her father goes broke, they are prepared to help - but at a price. Set in London, Scotland and the Peak District, The Haldanes is a compelling, beautifully-observed story of growing up, of anguish and friendship, true and false, during the Twenties when all the old values and rules are under attack. 'She writes in bright colours with bold, confident strokes' Glasgow Herald
The Haldanes of Gleneagles: A Scottish History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day
by Neil Stacy&“The story of a remarkable Scottish family set against the great sweep of Scotland&’s history . . . [a] remarkable piece of research&” (Magnus Linklater, former Scottish editor of The Times). The Haldanes have been in Scotland for over eight hundred years, and their story illustrates many of the defining themes of Scotland&’s history. Haldanes played significant roles in the Bruce war of independence, the political upheavals which accompanied the establishment of the Stewart dynasty, the religious struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Darien Scheme and the Act of Union, the Jacobite rebellions, the development of the East India Company, and in the theological controversies of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, Haldanes are still to be found in the public eye with some influence on matters of national significance. In this book, Neil Stacy follows the fortunes of the family, highlighting the extraordinary contributions they have made in so many areas, as well as uncovering some of the more colorful episodes in the family&’s history, such as long-buried secrets of romance in the teeth of parental opposition, a military career threatened by a youthful liaison with a blackmailing barmaid, and an attempt to run a temperance hotel in the western Highlands which ended in high farce. &“For producing so many individuals of unusual distinction there can be few families to rival the Haldanes of Gleneagles. Neil Stacy does them proud, he relates their 900-year saga with clarity and wit.&” —John Keay, author of India: A History &“I had expected to be intrigued and entertained by this comprehensive history of the Haldanes of Gleneagles; and I was, abundantly.&” —Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh
HALE’S HANDFUL...UP FROM THE ASHES: The Forging Of The Seventh Air Force From The Ashes Of Pearl Harbor To The Triumph Of V-J Day
by Major Peter S. H. Ellis USAFThis study analyzes the evolution of Seventh Air Force's joint command and control relationships as well as the development of joint operational procedures and doctrine in the Central Pacific during World War II. As this was arguably the most "joint" theater in World War II, there are many lessons about the challenges of joint command and control and the development of joint combat procedures that are relevant to contemporary airmen.The Seventh Air Force was established in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was initially a defensive and training oriented command--protecting Hawaii from a possible attack by the Japanese and training replacement crews for units in the South Pacific. However, in the summer of 1943, the Seventh Air Force became an offensive, mobile combat command that, along with each of the other services, played a major role in the island-hopping campaign of World War II. Major General Willis H. Hale served as the commander of the Seventh Air Force during this transition period. This study uses him as a lens to explore the unique challenges his command met and overcame. Additionally, since the Pacific Theater was on the tail end of the "Europe First" resupply policy, the Seventh Air Force was chronically under-manned and under-equipped--hence the moniker "Hale's Handful."
Halestorm
by Becky AkersSet during the American Revolution, Halestorm brings one of the war's most adorable heroes to life: Nathan Hale, the 21-year-old spy who "only regretted he had but one life to give for his country." Nathan is in love with a girl his father disapproves; worse, a rival for her hand will do anything, even murder, to win her. Their contest for the lady culminates in a British Artillery Park, when Nathan hangs for espionage -- but, in a surprising twist, triumphs regardless.
Half a Crown: A Novel (Small Change Ser. #3)
by Jo WaltonIn 1941 the European war ended in the Farthing Peace, a rapprochement between Britain and Nazi Germany. The balls and banquets of Britain's upper class never faltered, while British ships ferried "undesirables" across the Channel to board the cattle cars headed east. Peter Carmichael is commander of the Watch, Britain's distinctly British secret police. It's his job to warn the Prime Minister of treason, to arrest plotters, and to discover Jews. The midnight knock of a Watchman is the most dreaded sound in the realm. Now, in 1960, a global peace conference is convening in London, where Britain, Germany, and Japan will oversee the final partition of the world. Hitler is once again on British soil. So is the long exiled Duke of Windsor—and the rising gangs of "British Power" streetfighters, who consider the Government "soft," may be the former king's bid to stage a coup d'état. Amidst all this, two of the most unlikely persons in the realm will join forces to oppose the fascists: a debutante whose greatest worry until now has been where to find the right string of pearls, and the Watch Commander himself.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Half a Life: A Novel (Vintage International)
by V. S. NaipaulNATIONAL BESTSELLER • In a narrative that moves with dreamlike swiftness from India to England to Africa, the Nobel Prize-winning author produced his finest novel, a bleakly resonant study of the fraudulent bargains that make up an identity."A masterpiece." —Los Angeles Times Book ReviewThe son of a Brahmin ascetic and his lower-caste wife, Willie Chandran grows up sensing the hollowness at the core of his father's self-denial and vowing to live more authentically. That search takes him to the immigrant and literary bohemias of 1950s London, to a facile and unsatisfying career as a writer, and at last to a decaying Portugese colony in East Africa, where he finds a happiness he will then be compelled to betray. Brilliantly orchestrated, at once elegiac and devastating in its portraits of colonial grandeur and pretension, Half a Life represents the pinnacle of Naipaul's career.