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The Menial Art of Cooking: Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation
by Sarah R. Graff Enrique Rodrïguez-AlegrïaAlthough the archaeology of food has long played an integral role in our understanding of past cultures, the archaeology of cooking is rarely integrated into models of the past. The cooks who spent countless hours cooking and processing food are overlooked and the forgotten players in the daily lives of our ancestors. The Menial Art of Cooking shows how cooking activities provide a window into other aspects of society and, as such, should be taken seriously as an aspect of social, cultural, political, and economic life. This book examines techniques and technologies of food preparation, the spaces where food was cooked, the relationship between cooking and changes in suprahousehold economies, the religious and symbolic aspects of cooking, the relationship between cooking and social identity, and how examining foodways provides insight into social relations of production, distribution, and consumption. Contributors use a wide variety of evidence-including archaeological data; archival research; analysis of ceramics, fauna, botany, glass artifacts, stone tools, murals, and painted ceramics; ethnographic analogy; and the distribution of artifacts across space-to identify signs of cooking and food processing left by ancient cooks. The Menial Art of Cooking is the first archaeological volume focused on cooking and food preparation in prehistoric and historic settings around the world and will interest archaeologists, social anthropologists, sociologists, and other scholars studying cooking and food preparation or subsistence.
The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism
by Dr. Jen GunterIn her follow-up to the #1 bestseller The Vagina Bible, Dr. Jen Gunter, Canadian OB/GYN and the internet's most fearless advocate for women's health, brings us empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice.The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women's bodies, and it's no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Menopause is not a disease--it's a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what's to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring. Frank and funny, Dr. Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about:* Perimenopause * Hot flashes * Sleep disruption * Sex and libido * Depression and mood changes * Skin and hair issues * Outdated therapies * Breast health * Weight and muscle mass * Health maintenance screening * And much more! Filled with practical tips, useful information and startling insights, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause--and show them how their lives can be even better for it.
The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism
by Dr. Jen GunterJust as she did in her groundbreaking bestseller The Vagina Bible, Dr. Jen Gunter, the internet&’s most fearless advocate for women&’s health, brings you empowerment through knowledge by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice. &“Gunter mixes sound medical information with a bit of humor and a lot of candor…[this] frank and expert guide provides an informative and reassuring look at a long, often baffling and infuriating phase of life.&” —Booklist The only thing predictable about menopause is its unpredictability. Factor in widespread misinformation, a lack of research, and the culture of shame around women&’s bodies, and it&’s no wonder women are unsure what to expect during the menopause transition and beyond. Menopause is not a disease—it&’s a planned change, like puberty. And just like puberty, we should be educated on what&’s to come years in advance, rather than the current practice of leaving people on their own with bothersome symptoms and too much conflicting information. Knowing what is happening, why, and what to do about it is both empowering and reassuring. Frank and funny, Dr. Jen debunks misogynistic attitudes and challenges the over-mystification of menopause to reveal everything you really need to know about: *Perimenopause * Hot flashes * Sleep disruption * Sex and libido * Depression and mood changes * Skin and hair issues * Outdated therapies * Breast health * Weight and muscle mass * Health maintenance screening * And much more! Filled with practical, reassuring information, this essential guide will revolutionize how women experience menopause—including how their lives can be even better for it!
The Menopause Transition in a Relationship Context: Voices and Choices at Midlife, 1991-2012
by Nomi ReddingDrawing on a small-scale longitudinal study of mid-life women tracking their menstrual cycles within the context of their lives as a whole over a twenty year period, this insightful book documents general health, family, and life situation changes and continuities for the participants. At once a research report, a memoir, and commentary, this book uses rich interview data to explore the complexity of living beings consistently over time. Told through the women’s own voices, it shows diversity and commonality of experience and develops a new method of assessing interlocking variables, the Multiple Continuum Assessment, which represents the complexity of life as fluid, systemic, and opportunistic.This book makes the case that menopause is more than a collection of signs and symptoms. Women and their families experience continual change as a matter of fact. Overwhelmingly, they transact transitions with interest, survive challenges, develop new skills and resources, and come out on the other side. It concludes with recommendations for women, healthcare professionals and researchers.This innovative work is suitable for practitioners and academics with an interest in women’s health, women’s and gender studies, aging and health care, menopause transition and family systems research, as well as women themselves.
The Menorah
by Steven FineSteven Fine explores the cultural and intellectual history of the Western world's oldest continuously used religious symbol. This meticulously researched yet deeply personal history explains how the seven-branched menorah illuminates the great changes and continuities in Jewish culture, from biblical times to modern Israel.
The Menstrual Imaginary in Literature: Notes on a Wild Fluidity (Palgrave Studies in (Re)Presenting Gender)
by Natalie Rose DyerThis book draws on literary, cultural, and critical examples forming a menstrual imaginary—a body of work by women writers and poets that builds up a concept of women’s creativity in an effort to overturn menstrual prejudice. The text addresses key arbiters of the menstrual imaginary in a series of letters, including Sylvia Plath the initiator of ‘the blood jet’, Hélène Cixous the pioneer of a conceptual red ink and the volcanic unconscious, and Luce Irigaray the inaugurator of women’s artistic process relative to a vital flow of desire based in sexual difference. The text also undertakes provocative against-the-grain re-readings of the Medusa, the Sphinx, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Red Shoes, as a means of affirmatively and poetically re-imagining a woman’s flow. Natalie Rose Dyer argues for re-envisioning menstrual bleeding and creativity in reaction and resistance to ongoing and problematic societal views of menstruation.
The Menstrual Movement in the Media: Reducing stigma and tackling social inequalities (Palgrave Studies in Communication for Social Change)
by Maria Kathryn TomlinsonThis book investigates the impact of the mediation of menstruation and menstrual activism on young people’s knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and interpersonal relationships. Since 2015, the menstrual movement has become increasingly visible on social media and in news media from across the globe. In Great Britain, the menstrual movement brings together a diverse group of activists who aim to reduce menstrual stigma and tackle menstrual inequities. By combining original interviews with 32 menstrual activists and focus groups with 77 young people (including women, men, and non-binary teenagers), this book offers an in-depth exploration of this movement and its impact. This book argues that menstrual stigma has decreased, awareness around related health and social issues has increased, and girls as well as other menstruating young people are feeling an increased sense of connection and solidarity with each other. Menstruation is shifting from a very private experience to one of collective concern. It is evident that social media, and, to some extent, news media, have played a key role in disseminating the discourses and aims of menstrual activists that have engendered some of these changes. Nevertheless, this book also examines how the media have negatively impacted young people and identifies further changes that are necessary for the achievement of gender equality. This book makes a significant contribution not only to the fields of health communication, feminism, social movement studies, and critical menstruation studies, but also provides evidence and recommendations that will be of interest to NGOs, advocacy groups, policymakers, schools, workplaces, and medical professionals. This is an open access book.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: A Guide for Practice
by Robert Brown Paul Barber Debbie MartinIn 2007 The Mental Capacity Act came into effect providing a new statutory framework for decision making. This book is a practical guide to working within the requirements of the Act, identifying situations where staff will need to be familiar with the Act and Code of Practice and providing checklists and exercises to help people to ensure compliance with the new requirements. This edition also includes the complete text of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and will be of immense value to Best Interest Assessors.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: A Guide for Practice (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)
by Paul Barber Debbie Martin Dr Robert BrownThe Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its accompanying Codes of Practice continue to have a huge impact on mental health professionals working with some of the most vulnerable people throughout England and Wales. Whether you are a Social Worker, Best Interest Assessor, Mental Health Nurse, Doctor, Psychiatrist or an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), understanding the Mental Capacity Act and its implications for practice is essential and this indispensable guide will help you do just that. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is designed to protect and empower individuals who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment and this bestselling book will provide invaluable support to busy practitioners needing to draw on the Act in the following ways: - Sets out the full text of the main body of the Act for quick reference - Contains practical advice and checklists for working with the Act and the main principles and Codes of Practice - Shows how the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act interact so that statutory requirements can be put into practice. Written in a style accessible to all professionals, this fully updated Third Edition has been revised and enlarged to incorporate revisions to the Mental Health Act Code of Practice 2015 and the crucial impact of the Supreme Court decisions in the Cheshire West cases.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: A Guide for Practice (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)
by Robert Brown Paul Barber Debbie Martin Neil AllenThe Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its accompanying Codes of Practice continue to have a huge impact on mental health professionals working with some of the most vulnerable people throughout England and Wales. Whether you are a Social Worker, Best Interest Assessor, Mental Health Nurse, Doctor, Psychiatrist or an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), understanding the Mental Capacity Act and its implications for practice is essential and this indispensable guide will help you do just that. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is designed to protect and empower individuals who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment and this bestselling book will provide invaluable support to busy practitioners needing to draw on the Act in the following ways: - Sets out the full text of the main body of the Act for quick reference - Contains practical advice and checklists for working with the Act and the main principles and Codes of Practice - Shows how the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act interact so that statutory requirements can be put into practice.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005: A Guide for Practice (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)
by Robert Brown Paul Barber Debbie Martin Neil AllenThe Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its accompanying Codes of Practice continue to have a huge impact on mental health professionals working with some of the most vulnerable people throughout England and Wales. Whether you are a Social Worker, Best Interest Assessor, Mental Health Nurse, Doctor, Psychiatrist or an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), understanding the Mental Capacity Act and its implications for practice is essential and this indispensable guide will help you do just that. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is designed to protect and empower individuals who may lack the mental capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment and this bestselling book will provide invaluable support to busy practitioners needing to draw on the Act in the following ways: - Sets out the full text of the main body of the Act for quick reference - Contains practical advice and checklists for working with the Act and the main principles and Codes of Practice - Shows how the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act interact so that statutory requirements can be put into practice.
The Mental Health Clinician's Workbook: Locking In Your Professional Skills
by James MorrisonRich with compelling case material, this hands-on workbook helps mental health practitioners and students build essential skills for clinical evaluation and differential diagnosis. Renowned diagnostician and bestselling author James Morrison (DSM-5 Made Easy and other works) invites the reader to interview and evaluate 26 patients with a wide spectrum of presenting complaints and ultimate diagnoses. Using multiple-choice questions and fill-in-the-blank exercises, clinicians practice the arts of interviewing and making diagnostic decisions. The convenient large-size format facilitates use. Extensive tables in the appendix provide a quick-reference guide to the interviewing techniques, diagnostic principles, and clinical diagnoses discussed in each case. See also Morrison's DSM-5® Made Easy, which explains DSM-5 diagnoses in clear language, illustrated with vivid case vignettes; Diagnosis Made Easier, Second Edition, which offers principles and decision trees for integrating diagnostic information from multiple sources; and The First Interview, Fourth Edition, which presents a framework for conducting thorough, empathic initial evaluations.
The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference: Visual Guides and More for Learning to Use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR), Second
by Carlton MunsonMake the DSM-IV-TR user-friendly with this powerful learning tool! This expanded and updated edition of Dr. Munson's highly acclaimed book is the indispensable companion volume and guide to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), published by the American Psychiatric Association. The only study guide currently available for the DSM-IV-TR, The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference, Second Edition, provides clear, cogent expositions of every disorder in the manual. All the information in this edition has been updated to reflect the new thinking and the current criteria. Easy to use in a consistent, all-inclusive format, The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference, Second Edition, offers a detailed explanation of every part of the DSM-IV-TR, from its multi-axial classification system to the criteria for diagnosing individual disorders. It offers guidelines of diagnosis, examples of treatment planning, and 81 helpful illustrations, including color-coded supplemental visuals highlighting the diagnostic criteria for disorders most frequently encountered in clinical practice. It even features a thorough review of the 26 syndromes considered for inclusion in the DSM-IV-TR that did not reach the research criteria for a full-scale disorder.In addition, The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference, Second Edition, is the only guide to applying the new culture-bound syndromes. It even includes a detailed case example of preparing a cultural formulation. References are provided at the end of each chapter, and a master reference list is printed at the end of the book, which enhances ease of use.Summaries for each class of disorders include: a listing of codes and disorders a fundamental features section describing core aspects of disorders brief tips to highlight significant information and helpful diagnostic techniques differential diagnosis strategies and tips standardized measures and scales recommended for their effectiveness, ease of use, brevity of administration, and cost recommended readingWritten by nationally respected clinician, supervisor, and educator Dr. Carlton Munson, The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference, Second Edition, will help end clinical gridlock and enable you to improve services to your clients within the context of managed care.
The Mental Health Tribunal: An Essential Guide (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)
by Christine Hutchison Neil HickmanThis accessible and practical guide de-mystifies the Mental Health Tribunal for health and social care professionals. Written by a mental health lawyer and a MHT Panel member, it offers essential explanations of all stages of the MHT proceedings, from initial application to the final decision. The book also provides answers to frequently asked questions and provides top tips to help guide through the whole process.
The Mental Health Tribunal: An Essential Guide (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)
by Christine Hutchison Neil HickmanThis accessible and practical guide de-mystifies the Mental Health Tribunal for health and social care professionals. Written by a mental health lawyer and a MHT Panel member, it offers essential explanations of all stages of the MHT proceedings, from initial application to the final decision. The book also provides answers to frequently asked questions and provides top tips to help guide through the whole process.
The Mental Load Diaries: How I learned to juggle life, love and the neverending to-do list
by Cat Sims"This book − and Cat Sims generally − helps me to breathe a bit easier. My shoulders drop, my jaw relaxes, and I know everything is going to be OK." - Bryony GordonThe mental load isn&’t just about doing all the stuff. The mental load is constantly thinking about having to do all the stuff, and then, when you forget to do some of the stuff, the mental load is also about beating yourself up about that, while still trying to keep in mind all the other stuff you&’ve got to do. The mental load. Emotional labour. The invisible burden – whatever you call it, every woman is familiar with the neverending list of things to do that exists in their head. This noise that plays on a constant loop is impacting the mental health of women everywhere. Writer, content creator, podcaster, wife and mum Cat Sims describes the devastating impact the mental load had on her own happiness, mental health and marriage. After having children, the unequal division of responsibility in her household came into stark relief. Her desperate efforts to be the perfect wife and mother left her mentally, emotionally and physically defeated – ultimately driving her to addiction and a crisis point in her marriage. With eye-opening honesty and her trademark dry humour, Cat tells the story of her relationship with the mental load and, in turn, offers a blunt but ultimately hopeful appraisal of society and women&’s experience of it. This necessary book will incite honest conversation, make you feel less alone and give you the confidence to invite your loved ones to share the mental load.
The Mentor: A Memoir of Friendship and Gay Identity
by Jay QuinnExamine a moving, personal narrative about growing up gay in the south!Students, teachers, and anyone interested in gay studies and experiences will find that The Mentor: A Memoir of Friendship and Gay Identity (a 2001 Lambda Literary Foundation Gay Male Biography/Autobiography Award finalist) delivers a captivating and honest look into the challenges of growing up gay through the context of firsthand experiences, revelations, and realizations. This unique book is an intelligent and personal narrative that considers the social, religious, and emotional aspects of what it is like to grow up as a gay male in the south and examines the enormous social changes regarding homosexuality that have taken place in America during the last half of the century. Written to reveal the importance of the author's mentor in helping him form his self-identity and educating him about being gay, this book challenges the stereotypical idea that, unlike heterosexuals, gay men are not able to form nurturing, fulfilling bonds between themselves. The Mentor delivers an inspiring story about accepting and understanding your sexuality with the help and guidance of other men who have traveled the road to a successful gay identity.This unique book offers the courage, strength, and support of a mentor to help guide you through the trials that many young gay men experience, such as: recognizing the possibilities of exploitation by older gay men due to a lack of emotional and social experience creating a loyal relationship with a man that does not include sex but which satisfies emotional needs that many gay men need and long for discovering the importance of a mentor to gay youths, since there are few homosexual role models to learn fromSincere and well-written, The Mentor provides insight into everything from the author's experience with intolerance of homosexuality by certain religions to struggles with fidelity and infidelity, illustrating the difficult yet universal challenges of life relationships. The Mentor contains suggestions that will help you recognize that your feelings of desire and love and your quest for human connection as a gay man are not the distorted reflections of a heterosexual image, but a healthy gay identity. With this unique book, you will discover how to make the shift from confusion to full acceptance of your gay identity, you will understand that you are not alone, and perhaps you will be encouraged to pass on the legacy of a mentor to other young gay men.
The Merchant Of Prato's Wife: Margherita Datini And Her World, 1360-1423
by Ann Morton CrabbAlthough the fourteenth-century Italian merchant Francesco Datini has received attention from business historians, there has previously been no full study of his wife, Margherita Datini. Drawing on a sizable trove of Margherita's correspondence held in the Archivio di Stato di Prato, including hundreds of letters she exchanged with Francesco, Ann Crabb investigates the social and economic importance of women's roles as wives and mothers, early modern European views on honor, and the practice of letter writing in Margherita's world. Margherita's often colorful comments demonstrate her attitudes toward her rather unhappy marriage and her inability to have children, along with other aspects of her life. Her letters reveal the pride she felt in carrying out her many responsibilities as a wife and, later, a widow: in scribal letter writing, in business, in household management, and in farming. Crabb emphasizes that the role of a wife was a recognized social position, beyond her individual relations with her husband, and provided opportunities beyond what restrictive laws or restrictive views of female honor would suggest. Further, Crabb considers Margherita's successful efforts, on her own initiative and in her late thirties, to learn to read and write at a literate level. This book will be of interest to both scholars and general readers of women's history. In addition, historians of early modern Italy and, more generally, of early modern Europe will find this book valuable.
The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire
by Robert E. Weems Jr.Born to enslaved parents, Anthony Overton became one of the leading African American entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. Overton's Chicago-based empire ranged from personal care products and media properties to insurance and finance. Yet, despite success and acclaim as the first business figure to win the NAACP's Spingarn Medal, Overton remains an enigma. Robert E. Weems Jr. restores Overton to his rightful place in American business history. Dispelling stubborn myths, he traces Overton's rise from mentorship by Booker T. Washington, through early failures, to a fateful move to Chicago in 1911. There, Overton started a popular magazine aimed at African American women that helped him dramatically grow his cosmetics firm. Overton went on to become the first African American to head a major business conglomerate, only to lose significant parts of his businesses—and his public persona as ”the merchant prince of his race”—in the Depression, before rebounding once again in the early 1940s. Revealing and panoramic, The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago weaves the fascinating life story of an African American trailblazer through the eventful history of his times.
The Merchant's Tale: Yokohama and the Transformation of Japan (Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture)
by Simon PartnerIn April 1859, at age fifty, Shinohara Chūemon left his old life behind. Chūemon, a well-off farmer in his home village, departed for the new port city of Yokohama, where he remained for the next fourteen years. There, as a merchant trading with foreigners in the aftermath of Japan’s 1853 “opening” to the West, he witnessed the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, the civil war that followed, and the Meiji Restoration’s reforms. The Merchant’s Tale looks through Chūemon’s eyes at the upheavals of this period.In a narrative history rich in colorful detail, Simon Partner uses the story of an ordinary merchant farmer and its Yokohama setting as a vantage point onto sweeping social transformation and its unwitting agents. Chūemon, like most newcomers to Yokohama, came in search of economic opportunity. His story sheds light on vital issues in Japan’s modern history, including the legacies of the Meiji Restoration; the East Asian treaty port system; and the importance of everyday life—food, clothing, medicine, and hygiene—for national identity. Centered on an individual, The Merchant’s Tale is also the story of a place. Created under pressure from aggressive foreign powers, Yokohama was the scene of gunboat diplomacy, a connection to global markets, the birthplace of new lifestyles, and the beachhead of Japan’s modernization. Partner’s history of a vibrant meeting place humanizes the story of Japan’s revolutionary 1860s and their profound consequences for Japanese society and culture.
The Merchants
by G. G. Vega Laura HernandezThe Merchants is a book that focuses on the serious global problem of the tyranny of the merchants of death. In this last century, like it has never happened before, humanity has suffered the fatal and disastrous consequences, never imagined or expected, of the huge war machine and its victims, in most of the cases, were innocent people. We need to become aware of what we are and why we really exist, as individuals and as a society. Read this book and you will feel that a complete generation has been victim of the industry of war. In this sense, more than ever, we live in a critical period. The planet is full of war material and the worst thing is that many of these war materials are nuclear. Each person has the right to accept or condemn this type of war industry and such a huge destructive power is not convenient for anybody on this planet. We are in a generation where any conflict can lead to a mass destruction thermonuclear war. Worrying about it is not exaggerated. It is criminal not to perceive the seriousness of this situation.
The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight
by Martha AckmannFor readers of The Astronaut Wives Club, The Mercury 13 reveals the little-known true story of the remarkable women who trained for NASA space flight. <p><p> In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America’s first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys’ club at NASA and on Capitol Hill. The USSR sent its first woman into space in 1963; the United States did not follow suit for another twenty years. <p><p> For the first time, Martha Ackmann tells the story of the dramatic events surrounding these thirteen remarkable women, all crackerjack pilots and patriots who sometimes sacrificed jobs and marriages for a chance to participate in America’s space race against the Soviet Union. In addition to talking extensively to these women, Ackmann interviewed Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and others at NASA and in the White House with firsthand knowledge of the program, and includes here never-before-seen photographs of the Mercury 13 passing their Lovelace tests. <p><p> Despite the crushing disappointment of watching their dreams being derailed, the Mercury 13 went on to extraordinary achievement in their lives: Jerrie Cobb, who began flying when she was so small she had to sit on pillows to see out of the cockpit, dedicated her life to flying solo missions to the Amazon rain forest; Wally Funk, who talked her way into the Lovelace trials, went on to become one of the first female FAA investigators; Janey Hart, mother of eight and, at age forty, the oldest astronaut candidate, had the political savvy to steer the women through congressional hearings and later helped found the National Organization for Women. <p><p> A provocative tribute to these extraordinary women, The Mercury 13 is an unforgettable story of determination, resilience, and inextinguishable hope.
The Meridian Handbook Of Classical Mythology
by Edward TrippThe ultimate single-volume reference guide to Greek and Roman mythology An ideal resource for students, teachers, librarians, writers, and readers of great literature, the Meridian Handbookhas set the standard for over three decades as the classic guide to the myths of Greece and Rome. From Athena to Zeus, Abantes to Zninthe, the epic heroes and gods who inhabit the pantheon of great literature are covered in fascinating detail. Complete stories and short identifications of characters, events, place names, and constellations are included. For a fuller perspective of the mythological realm, there are maps of the classical world and genealogical charts of the great royal lines. Comprehensive and accessible, the Meridian Handbook is an indispensable aid to understanding and enjoying mythology.
The Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, and Devours the Elite
by Daniel MarkovitsA revolutionary new argument from eminent Yale Law professor Daniel Markovits attacking the false promise of meritocracy <P><P>It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal – that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding – reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream. <P><P> But what if, both up and down the social ladder, meritocracy is a sham? Today, meritocracy has become exactly what it was conceived to resist: a mechanism for the concentration and dynastic transmission of wealth and privilege across generations. Upward mobility has become a fantasy, and the embattled middle classes are now more likely to sink into the working poor than to rise into the professional elite. At the same time, meritocracy now ensnares even those who manage to claw their way to the top, requiring rich adults to work with crushing intensity, exploiting their expensive educations in order to extract a return. All this is not the result of deviations or retreats from meritocracy but rather stems directly from meritocracy’s successes. <P><P>This is the radical argument that Daniel Markovits prosecutes with rare force. Markovits is well placed to expose the sham of meritocracy. Having spent his life at elite universities, he knows from the inside the corrosive system we are trapped within. Markovits also knows that, if we understand that meritocratic inequality produces near-universal harm, we can cure it. When The Meritocracy Trap reveals the inner workings of the meritocratic machine, it also illuminates the first steps outward, towards a new world that might once again afford dignity and prosperity to the American people.
The Merits of Women: Wherein Is Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men
by Moderata Fonte“Among the great classics of early feminist thought . . . challenging, witty . . . a sometimes startlingly original discussion of women’s status.” —Literary HubYou would as well look for blood in a corpse as for the least shred of decency in a man . . .Without help from their wives, men are just like unlit lamps . . .Just think of them as an unreliable clock that tells you it’s ten o’clock when it’s in fact barely two . . .These are but a small selection of the quips bandied about at this lively gathering of women. Yet this dialogue unfolds not among ironically misandrist millennials venting at their local dive bar, but rather among sixteenth-century women—variously married, widowed, single, and betrothed—attending a respectable Venice garden party. Written in the early 1590s by Moderata Fonte, pseudonym of the Renaissance poet and writer Modesta Pozzo, this literary dialogue interrogates men and men’s treatment of women, and explores by contrast the virtues of singledom and female friendship.A new introduction by translator Virginia Cox and foreword by Dacia Maraini situate The Merits of Women in its historical context, written as it was on the cusp of Shakespeare’s heyday, and straddling the centuries between the feminist works of Christine de Pizan and Mary Wollstonecraft. Elegantly presented for a general audience, this is a must-read for baby feminists and “nasty women” alike, not to mention the perfect subtle gift for any mansplaining friend who needs a refresher on the merits of women . . . and their superiority to men.