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The Bridge Ladies: A Memoir
by Betsy LernerA fifty-year-old Bridge game provides an unexpected way to cross the generational divide between a daughter and her mother. Betsy Lerner takes us on a powerfully personal literary journey, where we learn a little about Bridge and a lot about life. <p><p> After a lifetime defining herself in contrast to her mother's "don't ask, don't tell" generation, Lerner finds herself back in her childhood home, not five miles from the mother she spent decades avoiding. When Roz needs help after surgery, it falls to Betsy to take care of her. She expected a week of tense civility; what she got instead were the Bridge Ladies. Impressed by their loyalty, she saw something her generation lacked. Facebook was great, but it wouldn't deliver a pot roast. <p> Tentatively at first, Betsy becomes a regular at her mother's Monday Bridge club. Through her friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy, the Bridge table becoming the common ground she and Roz never had. By turns darkly funny and deeply moving, The Bridge Ladies is the unforgettable story of a hard-won--but never-too-late--bond between mother and daughter.
Bridge Over Troubled Dreams
by Delta GoodremThe emotional stories behind Delta Goodrem&’s sixth studio album. This eBook features an exclusive bonus chapter about the song Power from the Bridge Over Troubled Dreams album. In her first-ever book, Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem shares the intimate stories behind each of the tracks on her sixth studio album, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams, taking readers on a deep dive into her inspiration for each song and revealing the truth behind the lyrics. From the touching account of her birth – two months premature – to battling bouts of missing home and many incredible self-discoveries along the way, Bridge Over Troubled Dreams is truly the book of the artist&’s life. She speaks candidly about love, family, highs and lows, patience, freedom, faith, hope and survival, and how she uses lessons learned to drive herself forward. Delta&’s heartfelt stories are accompanied by never-before-seen pictures from her personal collection: candid behind-the-scenes shots, unreleased tour photos and even personal snaps from her childhood.
The Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World
by Rebecca Paley Nadia Lopez"The story of Mott Hall Bridges Academy is the story of American education. Nadia Lopez . . . must be a principal, a mentor, and sometimes a mother. I hope that you're as impressed by her dedication to these kids as I've been." --Brandon Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Humans of New York The inspirational account of the creation of a pathbreaking inner-city middle school in Brooklyn, New York, by the magnetic young principal who rocketed to national fame via Humans of New York. "Essential reading"(Essence) When thirteen-year-old Vidal Chastanet told photographer Brandon Stanton that his principal ,"Ms. Lopez," was the person who most influenced his life, it was the pebble that started a whirlwind for Nadia Lopez and her small, new public school in one of Brooklyn's most wretched communities. The posting on Stanton's wildly popular site Humans of New York (HONY) went mega-viral. Lopez--not long before on the verge of quitting--found herself in the national spotlight and headed for a meeting with Obama, as well as the beneficiary of a million-dollar IndieGoGo campaign for the school. Here is her first-person account of what it took to get to that moment.Mott Hall Bridges Academy isn't just a hallway inside a typically underserved public school in one of New York City's most underprivileged communities--it is a school that glows with energy and excitement. Lopez tells the kids every day that they're extraordinary and that she loves them. When trouble stirs, she asks: "Would I have been proud to see what happened in that classroom? No? Then why did it happen?" She tells her teachers: "Don't tell me our scholars can't learn; because if you can't teach them, then I'll come teach your class for a couple of weeks."Everything was an uphill battle--to get the school launched, to recruit faculty and students, to solve a million new problems every day, from violent crime to vanishing supplies, but Lopez illustrates how leadership often means just picking the right people to support you. In middle school, one year lost with an unengaged teacher is a year that can send a kid down a terrible path. And then, of course, there is the educational system itself, how "teaching to the test" is an enormous problem, particularly in schools with kids who are already disadvantaged and underprepared. The Bridge to Brilliance is a book filled with common sense and caring that will carry her message to classrooms far from Brooklyn. As she says, modestly, "There are hundreds of Ms. Lopezes around this country doing good work for kids. This honors all of them."From the Hardcover edition.
A Bridge to Justice: The Life of Franklin H. Williams
by Enid Gort John CaherDocuments the life of a gifted African American leader whose contributions were pivotal to the movement for social justice and racial equalityFranklin Hall Williams was a visionary and trailblazer who devoted his life to the pursuit of civil rights—not through acrimony and violence and hatred but through reason and example. A Bridge to Justice sheds new light on this practical, pragmatic bridge-builder and brilliant, complex individual whose life reflected the opportunities and constraints of an intellectually elite Black man in the twentieth century.Franklin H. Williams was considered a “bridge” figure, someone whose position outside the limelight allowed him to navigate both Black and white circles, span the more turbulent racial waters below, and persuade people to see the world in a new way. During his prolific lifetime, he was a civil rights leader, lawyer, diplomat, organizer of the Peace Corps, United Nations representative, foundation president, and associate of Thurgood Marshall on some of the seminal civil liberties cases of the past hundred years, though their relationship was so fraught with tension that Marshall had Williams sent to California. He worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, served as a diplomat, and became an exceptionally persuasive advocate for civil rights. Even after enduring the segregated Army, suffering cruel discrimination, and barely escaping a murderous lynch mob eager to make him pay for zealously representing three innocent Black men falsely accused of rape, Franklin was not a hater. He believed that Americans, in general, were good people who were open to reason and, in their hearts, sympathetic to fairness and justice.Dr. Enid Gort, an anthropologist and Africanist who conducted hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with Williams, his family, friends, colleagues, and compatriots, and John M. Caher, a professional writer and legal journalist, have co-written an exhaustively researched and scrupulously documented account of this civil rights champion’s life and impact. His story is an object lesson to help this nation heal and advance through unity rather than tribalism.
Bridge To The Sun: A Memoir Of Love And War
by Gwen Terasaki Mariko Terasaki MillerNational Book Award Finalist Non-Fiction (1958) * Washington Post Non-Fiction Book of the Year (1958) * New York Times Bestseller Bridge to the Sun is a beautiful, tender, and moving love story-the true report of an international and interracial marriage of a an American girl from the mountains of Tennessee and a Japanese diplomat. They were married in 1931, just as tension between their two countries was mounting, and their constant dream was of a "rainbow across the Pacific," a bridge of peace between Japan and the United States. In the following ten years, Mr. Terasaki's service with the Japanese Foreign Office took them to Japan, China (where their daughter Mariko was born), Cuba, and Washington, where they were living at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. As head of Japanese intelligence in the Western Hemisphere, Terasaki took enormous personal risks to avert war between the two countries. Mrs. Terasaki describes with rare perception and fine humor her months of internment with the Japanese diplomatic corps at Hot Springs and White Sulphur Springs, the long voyage back to Japan via Africa on the famed exchange ship Gripsholm, and the struggle of the war years in Japan which were marked by illness and near starvation. After the surrender, Mr. Terasaki, a courageous and brilliant man who had risked everything to avert the war, was appointed liaison between the Emperor and General MacArthur, and in this capacity, he made a lasting contribution to post-war relations between the two countries.
A Bridge Too Far?: Volume 4 (Air War Market Garden #4)
by Martin W. BowmanThis, the fourth and final volume of the series on Market-Garden in September 1944 reveals the final fate of the troops at Oosterbeek and the decision to evacuate all able bodied men in Operation 'Berlin' as well as the subsequent Operation 'Pegasus' when the Allies tried to return as many beleaguered troops back to Allied lines as possible. Was Arnhem indeed 'a bridge Too Far'? While 'Market-Garden' certainly was a heroic failure conducted at great cost it is debatable whether it contributed materially to the ultimate victory or was a foolish sacrifice of thousands of troops, aircrew and Dutch civilians in an ill-conceived assault on the German-held bridges across the Lower Rhine. There is no doubting the gritty, gallant and valorous contribution on the part of the British, Dominion, American and Polish paratroopers, the RAF and USAAF aircrews and their German opponents and Dutch civilians. Their incredible, illuminating and often under-stated accounts of extraordinary courage, camaraderie, shared terror and encounters with the enemy offer a more personalised view of 'Market-Garden' through the words of those who were there at the heart of the action. These tales are complemented by the author's background information supplemented by the inclusion of daily timelines that give an overall picture of each battle and air operation.
The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing
by Thomas Mckelvey Cleaver"He had decided to live forever, or die in the attempt." - Catch-22 <P><P>The men of the 57th Bomb Wing flew out of Corsica during World War II and bombed vital bridges throughout Italy to sabotage German supply routes. Their missions were dangerous and never-ending. <P><P>One bombardier in the wing was a young New Yorker named Joseph Heller, who would later turn his experience into the classic 1961 war novel Catch-22. <P><P>Now aviation historian Thomas McKelvey Cleaver takes a closer look at the real-life men of the 57th, whose camaraderie in the face of death inspired the raucous cast of heroes and antiheros in Catch-22.
The Bridgetower Sonata: Sonata Mulattica
by Emmanuel DongalaIn this vividly imagined, richly detailed historical novel, acclaimed Congolese author Emmanuel Dongala has focused his laser-sharp wit and wry satirical perspective on the life and times of George Bridgetower, a young violin prodigy, who, at the age of nine, took the courtly world of 18th century Europe by storm—and surprise, given the youth's unusual origins: for young George was of mixed- race parentage, known in the parlance of the day as a mulatto. Though his father Augustus was from Barbados and dark-skinned while his mother was a German handmaiden in the Viennese court, this young virtuoso, proclaimed as the "Black Mozart" was welcomed into the high society of Tout-Paris on the eve of the French Revolution, and later, after he and his opportunistic father fled to England, became a court favorite of the Prince of Wales where his fame spread widely across Europe where he eventually arrived in Vienna and became close friends with Ludwig Van Beethoven himself. Despite their fraternal bonding and the fact that they composed and performed the titular sonata together that Beethoven dedicated to his "little Moor", the two had an irreconcilable falling-out due to an unfortunate slight that Bridgetower made about Beethoven's beloved soon-to-be fiancée Josephine—a schism that resulted in Bridgetower's banishment from Ludwig's circle and the removal of his name from the composition's title that the tempestuous composer changed to the "Kreutzer Sonata", to become one of Beethoven's most famous and enduring pieces. Brimming with lively detail and dialogue and with cameo appearances from historical figures such as writer Alexandre Dumas, the early feminist activist Camille Desmoulins, and the early abolitionist author, Nicolas de Condorcet, The Bridgetower Sonata brings to light the issues of race, class, privilege, and with gentle humor reveals the rampant hypocrisy of that era that uncannily mirrors our own.
Bridging
by Analouise Keating Gloria González-LópezMore than twenty years after the ground-breaking anthology This Bridge Called My Back called upon feminists to envision new forms of communities and practices, Gloria E. Anzaldúa and AnaLouise Keating have painstakingly assembled a new collection of over eighty original writings that offers a bold new vision of women-of-color consciousness for the twenty-first century. Written by women and men--both "of color" and "white"--this bridge we call home will challenge readers to rethink existing categories and invent new individual and collective identities.
Bridging The Information Gap: Legislative Member Organizations As Social Networks In The United States And The European Union
by Nils Ringe Jennifer Nicoll Victor Christopher Jan CarmanLegislative member organizations (LMOs)—such as caucuses in the U. S. Congress and intergroups in the European Parliament—exist in lawmaking bodies around the world. Unlike parties and committees, LMOs play no obvious, predefined role in the legislative process. They provide legislators with opportunities to establish social networks with colleagues who share common interests. In turn, such networks offer valuable opportunities for the efficient exchange of policy-relevant—and sometimes otherwise unattainable—information between legislative offices. Building on classic insights from the study of social networks, the authors provide a comparative overview of LMOs across advanced, liberal democracies. In two nuanced case studies of LMOs in the European Parliament and the U. S. Congress, the authors rely on a mix of social network analysis, sophisticated statistical methods, and careful qualitative analysis of a large number of in-depth interviews.
Bridging the Class Divide and Other Lessons for Grassroots Organizing
by Linda StoutStout describes what it was like starting and running the Piedmont Peace Project, a community organization geared toward improving the lives of low-income people in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. She gives advice for other community organizers, particularly those with diverse backgrounds and/or lack of formal education.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions
by Stephen HawkingThe world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the biggest questions facing humankind. <P><P>Stephen Hawking was the most renowned scientist since Einstein, known both for his groundbreaking work in physics and cosmology and for his mischievous sense of humor. He educated millions of readers about the origins of the universe and the nature of black holes, and inspired millions more by defying a terrifying early prognosis of ALS, which originally gave him only two years to live. In later life he could communicate only by using a few facial muscles, but he continued to advance his field and serve as a revered voice on social and humanitarian issues. <P><P>Hawking not only unraveled some of the universe’s greatest mysteries but also believed science plays a critical role in fixing problems here on Earth. Now, as we face immense challenges on our planet—including climate change, the threat of nuclear war, and the development of artificial intelligence—he turns his attention to the most urgent issues facing us. Will humanity survive? Should we colonize space? Does God exist? <P><P>These are just a few of the questions Hawking addresses in this wide-ranging, passionately argued final book from one of the greatest minds in history. Featuring a foreword by Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar playing Stephen Hawking, an introduction by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, and an afterword from Hawking’s daughter, Lucy, Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a brilliant last message to the world. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Brief Answers to the Big Questions: the final book from Stephen Hawking
by Stephen HawkingTHE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'A beautiful little book by a brilliant mind' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Effortlessly instructive, absorbing, up to the minute and - where it matters - witty' GUARDIANThe world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work.Is there a God?How did it all begin?Can we predict the future?What is inside a black hole?Is there other intelligent life in the universe?Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?How do we shape the future?Will we survive on Earth?Should we colonise space?Is time travel possible?Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet.And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind.Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next.A percentage of all royalties will go to charity.
Brief Answers to the Big Questions: the final book from Stephen Hawking
by Stephen HawkingRead by Ben Whishaw and Garrick Hagon, with an afterword read by Lucy Hawking. The world-famous cosmologist and #1 bestselling author of A Brief History of Time leaves us with his final thoughts on the universe's biggest questions in this brilliant posthumous work.How did the universe begin? Will humanity survive on Earth? Is there intelligent life beyond our solar system? Could artificial intelligence ever outsmart us?Throughout his extraordinary career, Stephen Hawking expanded our understanding of the universe and unravelled some of its greatest mysteries. But even as his theoretical work on black holes, imaginary time and multiple histories took his mind to the furthest reaches of space, Hawking always believed that science could also be used to fix the problems on our planet.And now, as we face potentially catastrophic changes here on Earth - from climate change to dwindling natural resources to the threat of artificial super-intelligence - Stephen Hawking turns his attention to the most urgent issues for humankind.Wide-ranging, intellectually stimulating, passionately argued, and infused with his characteristic humour, BRIEF ANSWERS TO THE BIG QUESTIONS, the final book from one of the greatest minds in history, is a personal view on the challenges we face as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next.A percentage of all royalties will go to charity.(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Brief Candle in the Dark
by Richard DawkinsIn this hugely entertaining sequel to the New York Times bestselling memoir An Appetite for Wonder, Richard Dawkins delves deeply into his bravura intellectual life spent kick-starting new conversations about science, culture, and religion--and writing yet another of the most audacious and widely read books of the twentieth century--The God DelusionCalled "one of the best nonfiction writers alive today" (Steven Pinker) and a "prize-fighter" (Nature), Richard Dawkins cheerfully and mischievously looks back on a lifetime of tireless intellectual adventure and engagement. Exploring the halls of scholarly inquiry and stardom he encountered after the publication of his seminal work, The Selfish Gene, he affectionately lampoons the worlds of academia, publishing, and television and studs the pages with funny stories about the great men and women he's known--including Douglas Adams, Christopher Hitchens, John Maynard Smith, Dame Miriam Rothschild, Nathan Myhrvold, Richard Leakey, Carolyn Porco, and Philip Pullman. Dawkins offers here a candid look both at what encouraged him to shift his attention from the laboratory to the intersection of culture, religion, and science and at many of the primary figures in the merger between scientific and literary fields known to some as "The Third Culture."On the publication of his tenth book, the smash hit The God Delusion, a "resounding trumpet blast for truth" (Matt Ridley), Dawkins was catapulted from mere intellectual stardom into a circle of celebrity thinkers dubbed "The Four Horsemen," which included Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. Shedding new light on the book's publication and content, Dawkins makes clear the boundary between literary assault and literary satire. Brief Candle in the Dark allows the reader a closer look at the brilliant succession of influential books that grew naturally out of his busy life, highlighting the ideas that connect them and excavating their origins.Throughout, Dawkins shares with us his infectious sense of wonder at the natural world, his enjoyment of the absurdities of human interaction, and his bracing awareness of life's brevity: all of which have made a deep imprint on our culture.
Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks
by Dick CavettDick Cavett is back, sharing his reflections and reminiscences about Hollywood legends, American cultural icons, and the absurdities of everyday lifeIn Brief Encounters, the legendary talk show host Dick Cavett introduces us to the fascinating characters who have crossed his path, from James Gandolfini and John Lennon to Mel Brooks and Nora Ephron, enhancing our appreciation of their talent, their personalities, and their place in the pantheon. We tag along as Cavett spends an afternoon with Stan Laurel at his modest apartment in Los Angeles, spars with Muhammad Ali at his training camp, and comes to know a young Steve Jobs—who woos him to be Apple's first celebrity pitchman. He also offers piquant commentary on contemporary politics, the indignities of travel, the nature of comedy writing, and the utter improbability of being alive at all.On his talk show, Cavett welcomed the leading figures from film, music, theater, literature, comedy, and politics, and engaged them in conversation that made viewers feel that the discussion was taking place in their own living rooms. Jimmy Fallon, the host of The Tonight Show, has called him "a legend and an inspiration" and has written a foreword that makes clear the debt that today's talk show hosts owe to Dick Cavett.To spend a few minutes, or an hour, or even a whole evening with Dick Cavett is an experience not to be missed, and now there's no reason to deny yourself. Enjoy the conversation!
A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan
by Thinley NorbuPersonal reminiscences of an esteemed Tibetan Buddhist master, ranging from touching memoir to humorous storytelling, from sharp cultural commentary to deeply felt verse--illustrated with rare photos in full color. Illustrated with color photos published for the first time, this collage of reminiscences affords a rare glimpse into the life of an esteemed Tibetan Buddhist teacher. The author sets a magical mood as he describes his early years in "Snowland" (Tibet) as one of seven children of a renowned Nyingma master. Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's storytelling alternates earthy humor with poetic sensitivity and tender sensuality. Describing his travels in Asia, Europe, and America, he presents thumbnail sketches of people and places, as well as sharp-sighted commentary on Western cultural trends and Dharma students' positive and negative qualities. More than just an autobiography, this written offering is an expression of Rinpoche's wisdom, compassion, and personal realization.
Brief Gaudy Hour
by Margaret Campbell BarnesThe enigmatic Anne Boleyn comes to life in this charming, brilliant portrayalby acclaimed British novelist Barnes.
A Brief Guide To Agatha Christie
by Nigel CawthorneAgatha Christie?s 80 novels and short-story collections have sold over 2 billion copies in more than 45 languages, more than any other author. When Christie finally killed off her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, the year before she herself died, that `detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep? in Christie?s words, received a full-page obituary in the New York Times, the only fictional character ever to have done so. From her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a Poirot mystery, to her last, Sleeping Murder, featuring Miss Marple, Crawford explores Christie?s life and fiction. Cawthorne examines recurring characters, such as Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot?s Dr Watson; Chief Inspector Japp, his Lestrade, as well as other flat-footed policemen that Poirot outsmarts on his travels; his efficient secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon; another employee, George; and Ariadne Oliver, a humorous caricature of Christie herself. He looks at the writer?s own fascinating: her work as a nurse during the First World War; her strange disappearance after her first husband asked for a divorce; and her exotic expeditions with her second husband, the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. He examines the author?s working life ? her inspirations, methods and oeuvre ? and provides biographies of her key characters, their attire, habits and methods, including Poirot?s relationships with women, particularly Countess Vera Rossakoff and Miss Amy Carnaby. In doing so, he sheds light on the genteel world of the country house and the Grand Tour between the wars. He takes a look at the numerous adaptations of Christie?s stories for stage and screen, especially Poirot?s new life in the eponymous long-running and very successful TV series.
A Brief Guide To Agatha Christie (Brief Histories)
by Nigel CawthorneAgatha Christie’s 80 novels and short-story collections have sold over 2 billion copies in more than 45 languages, more than any other author. When Christie finally killed off her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, the year before she herself died, that ‘detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep’ in Christie’s words, received a full-page obituary in the New York Times, the only fictional character ever to have done so. From her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a Poirot mystery, to her last, Sleeping Murder, featuring Miss Marple, Crawford explores Christie’s life and fiction. Cawthorne examines recurring characters, such as Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot’s Dr Watson; Chief Inspector Japp, his Lestrade, as well as other flat-footed policemen that Poirot outsmarts on his travels; his efficient secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon; another employee, George; and Ariadne Oliver, a humorous caricature of Christie herself. He looks at the writer’s own fascinating: her work as a nurse during the First World War; her strange disappearance after her first husband asked for a divorce; and her exotic expeditions with her second husband, the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. He examines the author’s working life – her inspirations, methods and oeuvre – and provides biographies of her key characters, their attire, habits and methods, including Poirot’s relationships with women, particularly Countess Vera Rossakoff and Miss Amy Carnaby. In doing so, he sheds light on the genteel world of the country house and the Grand Tour between the wars. He takes a look at the numerous adaptations of Christie’s stories for stage and screen, especially Poirot’s new life in the eponymous long-running and very successful TV series.
A Brief Guide to C. S. Lewis: From Mere Christianity to Narnia
by Paul SimpsonNovember 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Clive Staples 'Jack' Lewis, when a memorial to him will be placed in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. Although perhaps best known as the author of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, published between 1949 and 1954, Lewis also wrote The Pilgrim's Regress, a trilogy of science-fiction novels incorporating Christian themes, and a large number of non-fiction books about his faith, accessible to Christians and non-believers alike. In a survey of the greatest British writers since 1945, the Times newspaper ranked Lewis eleventh, ahead of Salman Rushdie, Anthony Burgess and Ian Fleming.A Brief Guide to C. S. Lewis explores Lewis's life, from his reconversion to Christianity under the influence of his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, which had such a profound influence on his writing - both fiction and non-fiction - to his marriage to American writer Joy Davidman Gresham and his battle with cancer. He died on 22 November 1963, a day before the first-ever episode of Dr Who, a TV series with many links to his Narnia stories was shown. Although this Brief Guide ranges well beyond the world of Narnia to explore other aspects of Lewis's life and his other writings, it does not do so - unusually among books on Lewis - from the point of view of Christian scholarship, thereby assuming much knowledge of theology on the part of readers. That Lewis wrote about the problems of praying is significant; the specific texts he discusses and dissects are likely to be of less significance to most readers.The guide provides synopses of Lewis's fiction, an overview of his other writings, a biography and a look at all the many different versions of his stories that have appeared. In doing so it draws on recent interviews by the author with some of the many talented people who have worked on these adaptations.
A Brief Guide to C. S. Lewis: From Mere Christianity to Narnia (Brief Histories)
by Paul SimpsonNovember 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Clive Staples 'Jack' Lewis, when a memorial to him will be placed in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. Although perhaps best known as the author of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, published between 1949 and 1954, Lewis also wrote The Pilgrim's Regress, a trilogy of science-fiction novels incorporating Christian themes, and a large number of non-fiction books about his faith, accessible to Christians and non-believers alike. In a survey of the greatest British writers since 1945, the Times newspaper ranked Lewis eleventh, ahead of Salman Rushdie, Anthony Burgess and Ian Fleming.A Brief Guide to C. S. Lewis explores Lewis's life, from his reconversion to Christianity under the influence of his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, which had such a profound influence on his writing - both fiction and non-fiction - to his marriage to American writer Joy Davidman Gresham and his battle with cancer. He died on 22 November 1963, a day before the first-ever episode of Dr Who, a TV series with many links to his Narnia stories was shown. Although this Brief Guide ranges well beyond the world of Narnia to explore other aspects of Lewis's life and his other writings, it does not do so - unusually among books on Lewis - from the point of view of Christian scholarship, thereby assuming much knowledge of theology on the part of readers. That Lewis wrote about the problems of praying is significant; the specific texts he discusses and dissects are likely to be of less significance to most readers.The guide provides synopses of Lewis's fiction, an overview of his other writings, a biography and a look at all the many different versions of his stories that have appeared. In doing so it draws on recent interviews by the author with some of the many talented people who have worked on these adaptations.
A Brief Guide to J. R. R. Tolkien: A comprehensive introduction to the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (Brief Histories)
by Nigel CawthorneA very readable overview of Tolkien and his work, incorporating a brief biography, an examination of the books and a look at the process of filming his work, including The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings saga. It explores how Tolkien's background as a medievalist and linguist informed the languages of Middle-earth, the influence of his Catholicism and Tolkien's legacy in fantasy.A timely book to coincide with the first of Peter Jackson's two keenly awaited Hobbit films.
A Brief Guide to Jane Austen: The Life And Times Of The World's Favourite Author
by Charles JenningsJane Austen is a mystery. The first incontrovertibly great woman novelist, she is, among other things, one of the finest prose stylists in literature; the first truly modern writer, the Godmother of chick lit. She is also the greatest enigma (next to Shakespeare) in English literature. Soldiers in the First World War sat in the trenches and read them for the civilising comforts they provided. Hard-nut literary critics such as F. R. Leavis lauded their austere complexity. World Book Day, 2007, found that Pride and Prejudice was the one book 'The nation can't live without'.In this witty, accessible guide, Charles Jennings goes in search of this enigma through her words as well as her times, including a short biography, an overview of the novels, as well as the world that she inhabited. Finally, the book contains Jane's very own words of advice for the modern life.
A Brief Guide to Jane Austen: The Life and Times of the World's Favourite Author (Brief Histories)
by Charles JenningsJane Austen is a mystery. The first incontrovertibly great woman novelist, she is, among other things, one of the finest prose stylists in literature; the first truly modern writer, the Godmother of chick lit. She is also the greatest enigma (next to Shakespeare) in English literature. Soldiers in the First World War sat in the trenches and read them for the civilising comforts they provided. Hard-nut literary critics such as F. R. Leavis lauded their austere complexity. World Book Day, 2007, found that Pride and Prejudice was the one book 'The nation can't live without'.In this witty, accessible guide, Charles Jennings goes in search of this enigma through her words as well as her times, including a short biography, an overview of the novels, as well as the world that she inhabited. Finally, the book contains Jane's very own words of advice for the modern life.