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Balls: The Life of Eddie Trascher, Gentleman Gangster
by Scott M. Deitche Ken SanzThe true story of the man who scammed the mob and informed the FBI for over two decades. Eddie Trascher had balls. Born in the bayou of Louisiana, Eddie learned about gambling at the side of his stepfather. Starting his career in 1950s Vegas, he moved to pre-Castro Cuba and became adept at running a casino and stealing from the mobsters who owned it. He was a regular fixture at Rat Pack–era Vegas—stealing chips from the craps table, running gambling out of his bar, and hanging around with a wild assortment of gangsters, conmen, thieves, and celebrities.By the time he moved to Clearwater, Florida, after a stint running a Los Angeles hotel for the Chicago Outfit, Eddie was the biggest bookmaker in the state. But the FBI made him an offer he couldn’t refuse: “Help us get the Mafia and we’ll let you keep bookmaking.” For the next twenty years, Eddie became the Bureau and later the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s eyes and ears as they investigated organized crime in Florida. From the famous Donnie Brasco case to the new guard of the Tampa Mafia, Eddie was in the middle of it all. Eventually, he gave up the booking to become a professor, teaching law enforcement everything there was to know about bookmaking and running the scams. Balls is the story of the quintessential gangster, a man who didn’t make money for anyone but himself. Instead of working for the Mafia bosses, Eddie stole from right under their noses. And he lived to tell the story.
Balls and Stripes: A Lifetime of Sports Adventures
by Richard ShellhornBalls and Stripes is a collection of stories about Alaska's most popular sport, basketball — and more. The title comes from my many experiences playing, coaching, and broadcasting Naismith's game; as well as refereeing the sport and also wearing the stripes of a sergeant in the U.S. Army. Basketball has taken me all over Alaska, with radio gear or whistle in hand. From Barrow to Petersburg, from Dutch Harbor to Tok, it has been a marvelous journey, with countless amusing experiences as well as dramatic moments. Much of the action occurs in my hometown, Cordova. A small fishing town of 2500 located on Prince William Sound, its denizens are passionate about their hoops, and also their rivalry with Valdez, located just 70 miles away. In many ways, sports transcend location. Small town basketball is the same anywhere; yet Alaska, with its vast spaces and dramatic climates, offers unique experiences. In northernmost Barrow, I watched Inupiat cooks shut down a high school cafeteria so they could glimpse the sun for the first time in 67 days; on the way to Dutch Harbor, I heard a pilot announce the reassuring words that he would land the small prop plane “whenever we can”, to load on fuel necessary to complete the flight; in Petersburg, I learned about “julebukking” and Men's Night Out. Refereeing, always a source of potential controversy, has provided its share of highlights. How many officials can claim fame for calling a technical foul on a curtain; or playing the first minutes of a championship game with the wrong size ball? Football and baseball are also included. Guess who brought Oregon State's mascot Benny the Beaver to Cordova's Iceworm Festival; and dodged barbed wire while tracking down a fly ball in Korea? And, like so many others, who can not recall in vivid detail a last second shot that didn't go in? People, places, moments. Sports - drama, tears, and cheers. It's all here.
Ballwin
by David FiedlerAt the tender age of 21, a settler named John Ball bought 400 acres on Grand Glaize Creek in 1800 and began sowing crops and tending livestock. He had moved with his parents to Missouri as part of a migration of Kentucky settlers led by Daniel Boone and wanted to establish himself as his own man. That purchase and Ball's later platting of 17 city blocks along Manchester Road, the designated route to the state capitol, were the first steps in creating the town we know today as Ballwin. Using archivalphotographs from the Ballwin Historical Commission and other sources, Ballwin traces the history of the area from the first settlers through to the present, focusing on the periodsince the city was incorporated.
Ballycroy (The Pirate Queen #3)
by Jennifer Rose McMahonUSA Today-Bestselling Author: A woman journeys through time to medieval Ireland and finds forbidden love as tension rises between clans… Pursued by Ireland&’s notorious pirate queen, Maeve O&’Malley is on a quest to Ireland&’s medieval past to save the future of her clan and break her ancient family curse. Learning to use her haunting visions to travel to medieval Ireland leads Maeve on the adventure of a lifetime—or centuries of lifetimes. She is torn between the legends of ancient Ireland and the truths of modern life, as her loved ones pressure her to end the visions and leave history undisturbed. But her unexpected loyalty to a familiar medieval boy from the loathed rival clan complicates matters. Time is running out as threats of clan battles clash with the burden to make things right when Maeve realizes the danger of becoming trapped in the past forever—and is forced to make the boldest decision of her life—in this epic Irish adventure of seers and curses, the conclusion to the Pirate Queen series.
Balm: A Novel
by Dolen Perkins-ValdezThe New York Times bestselling author of Wench returns to the Civil War era to explore the next chapter of history—the trauma of the War and the end of slavery—in this powerful story of love and healing about three people who struggle to overcome the pain of the past and define their own future.The Civil War has ended, and Madge, Sadie, and Hemp have each come to Chicago in search of a new life.Born with magical hands, Madge has the power to discern others’ suffering, but she cannot heal her own damaged heart. To mend herself and help those in need, she must return to Tennessee to face the women healers who rejected her as a child.Sadie can commune with the dead, but until she makes peace with her father, she, too, cannot fully engage her gift.Searching for his missing family, Hemp arrives in this northern city that shimmers with possibility. But redemption cannot be possible until he is reunited with those taken from him.In the bitter aftermath of a terrible, bloody war, as a divided nation tries to come together once again, Madge, Sadie, and Hemp will be caught up in a desperate, unexpected battle for survival in a community desperate to lay the pain of the past to rest.Beautiful in its historical atmosphere and emotional depth, Balm is a stirring novel of love, loss, hope, and reconciliation set during one of the most critical periods in American history.
Baltasar and Blimunda: A Novel
by José SaramagoFrom the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, a “brilliant...enchanting novel” (New York Times Book Review) of romance, deceit, religion, and magic set in eighteenth-century Portugal at the height of the Inquisition. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
Baltasar and Blimunda
by José Saramago Giovanni PontieroFrom the recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature, a "brilliant. . . enchanting novel" (New York Times Book Review) of romance, deceit, religion, and magic set in eighteenth-century Portugal at the height of the Inquisition. National bestseller. Translated by Giovanni Pontiero.
Balthasar's Odyssey
by Amin MaaloufThere are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran, is it possible that there is a secret one-hundredth name? In this tale of magic and mystery, of love and danger, Balthasar's ultimate quest is to find the secret that could save the world. Before the dawn of the apocalyptic 'Year of the Beast' in 1666, Balthasar Embriaco, a Genoese Levantine merchant, sets out on an adventure that will take him across the breadth of the civilised world, from Constantinople, through the Mediterranean, to London shortly before the Great Fire. Balthasar's urgent quest is to track down a copy of one of the rarest and most coveted books ever printed, a volume called 'The Hundredth Name', its contents are thought to be of vital importance to the future of the world. There are ninety-nine names for God in the Koran, and merely to know this most secret hundredth name will, Balthasar believes, ensure his salvation.
The Baltic
by Michael NorthFrom the Vikings to the EU the Baltic has been a Nordic Mediterranean, a shared maritime zone with distinct patterns of trade, cultural exchange, and conflict. Covering a thousand years in a part of the globe where seas are more connective than land, Michael North's overview transforms the way we think about one of the world's great waterways.
The Baltic
by Alan PalmerIn this long-needed history of the peoples and nations surrounding the Baltic Sea, we pass through the legendary castles of Elsinore and Halsingborg to enter a unique landscape and culture. Alan Palmer traces the history of the Baltic region from its early Viking days and its time under the Byzantine Empire through its medieval prime when the Baltic Sea served as one of Europe’s central trading grounds. Palmer addresses both the strong nationalist sentiments that have driven Baltic culture and the early attempts at Baltic unification by Sweden and Russia. The Baltic also dissects the politics and culture of the region in the twentieth century, when it played multiple historic roles: it was the Eastern Front in the First World War; the setting of early uprisings in the Russian Revolution; a land occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War; and, until very recently, a region dominated by the Soviets. In the twenty-first century, increasing attention has been focused on the Baltic states as they grow into their own in spite of growing neo-imperialist pressure from post-Soviet Russia. In The Baltic, Alan Palmer provides readers with a detailed history of the nations and peoples that are now poised to emerge as some of Europe’s most vital democracies.
Baltic
by Alan PalmerIn this long-needed history of the peoples and nations surrounding the Baltic Sea, we pass through the legendary castles of Elsinore and Halsingborg to enter a unique landscape and culture. Alan Palmer traces the history of the Baltic region from its early Viking days and its time under the Byzantine Empire through its medieval prime when the Baltic Sea served as one of Europe's central trading grounds. Palmer addresses both the strong nationalist sentiments that have driven Baltic culture and the early attempts at Baltic unification by Sweden and Russia. The Baltic also dissects the politics and culture of the region in the twentieth century, when it played multiple historic roles: it was the Eastern Front in the First World War; the setting of early uprisings in the Russian Revolution; a land occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War; and, until very recently, a region dominated by the Soviets. In the twenty-first century, increasing attention has been focused on the Baltic states as they grow into their own in spite of growing neo-imperialist pressure from post-Soviet Russia. In The Baltic Alan Palmer provides readers with a detailed history of the nations and peoples that are now poised to emerge as some of Europe's most vital democracies.
The Baltic
by Alan PalmerIn this long-needed history of the peoples and nations surrounding the Baltic Sea, we pass through the legendary castles of Elsinore and Halsingborg to enter a unique landscape and culture. Alan Palmer traces the history of the Baltic region from its early Viking days and its time under the Byzantine Empire through its medieval prime when the Baltic Sea served as one of Europe's central trading grounds. Palmer addresses both the strong nationalist sentiments that have driven Baltic culture and the early attempts at Baltic unification by Sweden and Russia. The Baltic also dissects the politics and culture of the region in the twentieth century, when it played multiple historic roles: it was the Eastern Front in the First World War; the setting of early uprisings in the Russian Revolution; a land occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War; and, until very recently, a region dominated by the Soviets. In the twenty-first century, increasing attention has been focused on the Baltic states as they grow into their own in spite of growing neo-imperialist pressure from post-Soviet Russia. In The Baltic, Alan Palmer provides readers with a detailed history of the nations and peoples that are now poised to emerge as some of Europe's most vital democracies.
The Baltic and the North Seas (Seas in History)
by Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen David KirbyExploring the themes of the human relationship with the marine environment and the ways in which the peoples of Northern Europe have experienced and exploited their seas, this book reveals how human perception of the northern seas has changed over time.Drawing on a wide variety of sources, from Denmark and Britain to Norway, Finland and Germany, The Baltic and the North Seas is an insightful and colourful history of the politics, economy and culture of this intriguing region.
Baltic Biographies at Historical Crossroads (Studies in European Sociology)
by Aili Aarelaid-Tart and Li Bennich-BjörkmanThis book brings together life stories from five generations of Balts, living through the diverse and recurring transformations of the twentieth century: occupations, war, independence, totalitarianism, and democratic rule and market economy. The twentieth century history of the Baltic countries has often been deeply tragic. Lying on the coastline of the Baltic Sea, these rather small but strategically well located territories have historically found themselves in the middle of many power struggles between larger states, empires and other power-holders: the Teutonic Knights, Swedish kings, Tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union. Today, they are once again forced to stand up to the Russian Federation. Biographical interviewing is a field focused on individuals, and on how those individuals choose to re-create and present their lived lives, make meaning of it through the narratives they tell. To interpret the biographical narrations of Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians, shaped by complex and controversial historical background, the authors use Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of social and cultural capitals, the principles of Erving Goffman’s framing analysis and Alessandro Portelli’s distinction of private and public spheres, Anton Steen’s investigations of post-Socialist elites and Piotr Sztompka’s theory of cultural trauma, etc. Given analyses of particular biographical narrations are supplemented by brief historical and sociological overviews, which allow the reader to better understand the contexts of lived lives, and the mental atmosphere in which the interviews were conducted.
Baltic Countdown: A Nation Vanishes
by Peggie BentonA firsthand account of Latvia during World War II: &“A British diplomat&’s wife&’s beautifully observed eye-witness account of the Soviet occupation.&” —Condé Nast Traveler With her husband in the British Foreign Service, Peggie Benton had already lived through the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938 and had settled comfortably into the day-to-day life of Riga, the capital of Latvia. But the country&’s uneasy history with Russia and tensions brewing with Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War II meant their peace was not to last. In this compelling memoir, Benton captures both the small details of life in the city—the markets, the winter customs, the Baltic character—and the terrifying moments during the evacuation of Baltic Germans and the Soviet invasion that left the couple homeless and with an uncertain fate. Their world comes crashing down during the chaos of war, and the Bentons are forced to flee more than twenty-two thousand miles eastward across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Japan, then through Canada to England, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.Baltic Countdown is a tribute to the people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—their resilience through the trials of history and their never-ending hope of independence. &“An engaging account in its own right . . . A bittersweet memoir of a city on the edge of disaster. Her compelling depiction of Riga and its inhabitants conjures up a world that is almost unknown in the West.&” —Studies in Intelligence, CIA journal
Baltic Hospitality from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century: Receiving Strangers in Northeastern Europe (Palgrave Studies in Migration History)
by Christina Reimann Wojtek Jezierski Sari Nauman Leif RunefeltReflecting debate around hospitality and the Baltic Sea region, this open access book taps into wider discussions about reception, securitization and xenophobic attitudes towards migrants and strangers. Focusing on coastal and urban areas, the collection presents an overview of the responses of host communities to guests and strangers in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, from the early eleventh century to the twentieth. The chapters investigate why and how diverse categories of strangers including migrants, war refugees, prisoners of war, merchants, missionaries and vagrants, were portrayed as threats to local populations or as objects of their charity, shedding light on the current predicament facing many European countries. Emphasizing the Baltic Sea region as a uniquely multi-layered space of intercultural encounter and conflict, this book demonstrates the significance of Northeastern Europe to migration history.
The Baltic Nations and Europe: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Twentieth Century
by John Hiden Patrick SalmonOf all the Soviet Union's subject nationalities, the three Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, were the most determined and best organised in seizing the opportunities created by glasnost and perestroika to win freedom from Moscow's grip.At the time of first publication, in 1991, the final section of the book was speculative. Now for this revised edition, the authors have provided a new final chapter which brings the story up to date -- and the three republics to political independence again.
The Baltic Origins of Homer's Epic Tales: The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Migration of Myth
by Felice VinciCompelling evidence that the events of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey took place in the Baltic and not the Mediterranean• Reveals how a climate change forced the migration of a people and their myth to ancient Greece • Identifies the true geographic sites of Troy and Ithaca in the Baltic Sea and Calypso's Isle in the North Atlantic OceanFor years scholars have debated the incongruities in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, given that his descriptions are at odds with the geography of the areas he purportedly describes. Inspired by Plutarch's remark that Calypso's Isle was only five days sailing from Britain, Felice Vinci convincingly argues that Homer's epic tales originated not in the Mediterranean, but in the northern Baltic Sea. Using meticulous geographical analysis, Vinci shows that many Homeric places, such as Troy and Ithaca, can still be identified in the geographic landscape of the Baltic. He explains how the dense, foggy weather described by Ulysses befits northern not Mediterranean climes, and how battles lasting through the night would easily have been possible in the long days of the Baltic summer. Vinci's meteorological analysis reveals how a decline of the "climatic optimum" caused the blond seafarers to migrate south to warmer climates, where they rebuilt their original world in the Mediterranean. Through many generations the memory of the heroic age and the feats performed by their ancestors in their lost homeland was preserved and handed down to the following ages, only later to be codified by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey.Felice Vinci offers a key to open many doors that allow us to consider the age-old question of the Indo-European diaspora and the origin of the Greek civilization from a new perspective.
The Baltic Prize: Thomas Kydd 19
by Julian Stockwin1808. Parted from his new bride, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is called away to join the Northern Expedition to Sweden, now Britain's only ally in the Baltic. Following the sudden declaration of war by Russia and with the consequent threat of the czar's great fleet in St Petersburg, the expedition must defend Britain's dearly-won freedom in those waters. However Kydd finds his popular fame as a frigate captain is a poisoned chalice; in the face of jealousy and envy from his fellow captains, the distrust of the commander-in-chief and the betrayal of friendship by a former brother-in-arms now made his subordinate, can he redeem his reputation?In an entirely hostile sea Tyger ranges from the frozen north to the deadly confines of the Danish Sound - and plays a pivotal role in the situation ensuing after the czar's sudden attack on Finland. This climaxes in the first clash of fleets between Great Britain and Russia in history. To the victor will be the prize of the Baltic!******************PRAISE FOR JULIAN STOCKWIN'S THOMAS KYDD SERIES'Paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line' Daily Express'This heady adventure blends fact and fiction in rich, authoritative detail' Nautical Magazine on VICTORY'Fans of fast-paced adventure will get their fill with this book' Historical Naval Society on THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER
The Baltic Prize: Thomas Kydd 19 (Thomas Kydd #19)
by Julian Stockwin1808. Parted from his new bride, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is called away to join the Northern Expedition to Sweden, now Britain's only ally in the Baltic. Following the sudden declaration of war by Russia and with the consequent threat of the czar's great fleet in St Petersburg, the expedition must defend Britain's dearly-won freedom in those waters. However Kydd finds his popular fame as a frigate captain is a poisoned chalice; in the face of jealousy and envy from his fellow captains, the distrust of the commander-in-chief and the betrayal of friendship by a former brother-in-arms now made his subordinate, can he redeem his reputation?In an entirely hostile sea Tyger ranges from the frozen north to the deadly confines of the Danish Sound - and plays a pivotal role in the situation ensuing after the czar's sudden attack on Finland. This climaxes in the first clash of fleets between Great Britain and Russia in history. To the victor will be the prize of the Baltic!******************PRAISE FOR JULIAN STOCKWIN'S THOMAS KYDD SERIES'Paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line' Daily Express'This heady adventure blends fact and fiction in rich, authoritative detail' Nautical Magazine on VICTORY'Fans of fast-paced adventure will get their fill with this book' Historical Naval Society on THE ADMIRAL'S DAUGHTER
The Baltic Prize: Thomas Kydd 19 (Thomas Kydd #19)
by Julian StockwinThe nineteenth novel in Julian Stockwin's acclaimed Captain Kydd series.1808. Parted from his new bride, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is called away to join the Northern Expedition to Sweden, now Britain's only ally in the Baltic. Following the sudden declaration of war by Russia and with the consequent threat of the czar's great fleet in St Petersburg, the expedition must defend Britain's dearly-won freedom in the those waters. However Kydd finds his popular fame as a frigate captain is a poisoned chalice; in the face of jealousy and envy from his fellow captains, the distrust of the commander-in-chief and the betrayal of friendship by a former brother-in-arms now made his subordinate, can he redeem his reputation?In an entirely hostile sea Tyger ranges from the frozen north to the deadly confines of the Danish Sound - and plays a pivotal role in the situation ensuing after the czar's sudden attack on Finland. This climaxes in the first clash of fleets between Great Britain and Russia in history. To the victor will be the prize of the Baltic!(P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
The Baltic Question during the Cold War (Cold War History)
by John Hiden Vahur Made David J. SmithThis edited volume presents a comprehensive analysis of the ‘Baltic question’, which arose within the context of the Cold War, and which has previously received little attention. This volume brings together a group of international specialists on the international history of northern Europe. It combines country-based chapters with more thematic approaches, highlighting above all the political dimension of the Baltic question, locating it firmly in the context of international politics. It explores the policy decision-making mechanisms which sustained the Western non-recognition of Soviet sovereignty over the Baltic States after 1940 and which eventually led to the legal restoration of the three countries’ statehood in 1991. The wider international ramifications of this doctrine of legal continuity are also examined, within the context both of the Cold War and of relations between post-soviet Russia and the enlarging ‘Euro-Atlantic area’. The book ends with an examination of how this Cold War legacy continues to shape relations between Russia and the West.
The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Postcommunist States and Nations #3)
by Thomas Lane Artis Pabriks Aldis Purs David J. SmithSince the end of the Cold War there has been an increased interest in the Baltics. The Baltic States brings together three titles, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, to provide a comprehensive and analytical guide integrating history, political science, economic development and contemporary events into one account. Since gaining their independence, each country has developed at its own pace with its own agenda and facing its own obstacles. The authors examine the tensions accompanying a post-communist return to Europe after the long years of separation and how each country has responded to the demands of becoming a modern European state. Estonia was the first of the former Soviet republics to enter membership negotiations with the European Union in 1988 and is a potential candidate for the next round of EU expansion in 2004. Lithuania and Latvia have also expressed their desire for future membership of NATO and the EU.
The Baltic States and the End of the Soviet Empire (Routledge Library Editions: World Empires)
by Kristian Gerner Stefan HedlundFirst published in 1993. How is it possible for the three tiny Baltic republics to gain their freedom from the Soviet Union, without a single shot being fired or a single stone thrown at the oppressor? The topic of this book is the implosion of the Soviet empire. It tells the parallel stories of how the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania struggled successfully to gain their freedom, and how the policies pursued by Mikhail Gorbachev served to mobilize and politicize Baltic demands. Particular emphasis is placed on unintended consequences that resulted from repeated interventions by Moscow. The authors develop a loose theoretic framework for the examination of this critical struggle. The study starts by developing the analytical tools and then proceeds to outline, as background, the most salient features of Gorbachev's reform programme and of the history of the Baltic States. The core of the analysis is then presented in three chapters, devoted to three consecutive stages in the game. The first shows how strategies on both sides were initially formulated in consensus. In the second it is shown how consensus transformed into pure conflict, and in the third all actors are seeking to escape general collapse. The main conclusion points at the absence of ‘politics’ in the Soviet System as a main cause of its self-destruction.
The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union: Identity, Discourse and Power in the Post-Communist Transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (BASEES/Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
by Richard MoleThe Baltic States are unique in being the only member-states of the EU to have fought to regain their sovereignty from the Soviet Union, only then to cede it to Brussels in certain key areas. Similarly, no member-states have had to struggle as hard as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to preserve their identity after fifty years of Soviet nationality policy in the face of sub-state and supra-state challenges. The post-communist experience of the Baltic States thus allows us to examine debates about identity as a source of political power; the conditioning and constraining influence of identity discourses on social, political and economic change; and the orientation and outcome of their external relations. In particular, the book examines the impact of Russian and Soviet control of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; the Baltic independence movements of the late 1980s/early 1990s; the citizenship debates; relations with Russia vis-à-vis the withdrawal of the troops of the former Soviet Army; drawing of the shared boundary and the rights of Russian-speaking minorities as well as the efforts undertaken by the three Baltic States to rebuild themselves, modernise their economies, cope with the ensuing social changes and facilitate their accession to the EU and NATO.