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Manifest Destiny's Underworld
by Robert E. MayThis fascinating study sheds new light on antebellum America's notorious "filibusters--the freebooters and adventurers who organized or participated in armed invasions of nations with whom the United States was formally at peace. Offering the first full-scale analysis of the filibustering movement, Robert May relates the often-tragic stories of illegal expeditions into Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries and details surprising numbers of aborted plots, as well. May investigates why thousands of men joined filibustering expeditions, how they were financed, and why the U.S. government had little success in curtailing them. Surveying antebellum popular media, he shows how the filibustering phenomenon infiltrated the American psyche in newspapers, theater, music, advertising, and literature. Condemned abroad as pirates, frequently in language strikingly similar to modern American denunciations of foreign terrorists, the filibusters were often celebrated at home as heroes who epitomized the spirit of Manifest Destiny.May concludes by exploring the national consequences of filibustering, arguing that the practice inflicted lasting damage on U.S. relations with foreign countries and contributed to the North-South division over slavery that culminated in the Civil War.Robert May offers an imaginative new approach to antebellum America's notorious "filibusters--the adventurers who organized or participated in private military attacks on nations with which the United States was formally at peace. Condemned abroad as pirates, the filibusters were often celebrated at home as heroes who epitomized the spirit of Manifest Destiny. May explains the romantic, mercenary, ideological, and psychological desires that drove thousands of men to join filibustering expeditions; how they were financed; and why the U.S. government had little success in curtailing them. He also reveals the legacy of anti-Americanism that filibustering generated in Latin America, where people regarded the attackers much the way we look upon international terrorists today.-->
Manifest Destiny: A Study of Nationalist Expansionism in America (History Of The United States Ser.)
by Albert Katz WeinbergA fertile analysis of the ideology of American expansionism and its relation to national action. The history of the moral justifications that have accompanied the development of the United States is an illuminating study of the evolution of American nationalism.“[The author] has painstakingly collected and dissected the arguments employed by American leaders to justify such annexations, beginning with Louisiana and Florida, and ending with the acquisitions growing out of the Spanish War. The object of his quest has been an understanding of the motives which have prompted the territorial growth of the United States.”—New York Times“As a source book in the dicta of democracy it is indispensable.”—New Republic“A clear, dispassionate light on recurring crises in American history. The book should be required reading for imperialists everywhere.”—Christian Science Monitor
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future
by Jennifer Baumgardner Amy RichardsJennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, themselves young feminists, provide an overview of feminism today and describe how it is still relevant in the lives of young women. Offers suggestions on how individuals can get involved in affecting positive change in their homes, their communities, on campuses, and all over the world. Richards and Baumgardner express a hope that feminists of all generations can learn to listen to one another and work together. The book authors insightful reflections on topics such as activism, the media, women's history, the Equal Rights Amendment, mothers, reaching out to teens, feminist books and magazines, diversity, and more. Conveys the message that, while feminism is often perceived as something negative, girls in the "Third Wave" of the women's movement are redefining it into something that a woman can be proud of. This book was written when the authors were in their late twenties. Amy Richards is a contributing editor at Ms. and heads the Third Wave, an activist group for young women. Jennifer Baumgardner is a former editor at Ms. and writes regularly for The Nation, Jane, Glamour, and Out.
Manifestazione - Imparare a manifestare per una vita meravigliosa
by Nicholas RinpocheSe riesci a entrare in risonanza con queste domande, non dovresti esitare oltre Puoi davvero pensare e diventare ricco? Sì, puoi davvero usare la metafisica pratica e il potere del pensiero positivo per creare il successo finanziario, l'abbondanza e la prosperità che meriti. La maggior parte delle persone non sperimenta mai la ricchezza e l'abbondanza che potrebbero avere perché non imparano mai a pensare in grande o a manifestare miracoli. Possono avere vaghi desideri di diventare ricchi o diventare milionari, eppure non sanno nulla dell'importanza di avere la mentalità adeguata per ottenere quelle cose.
Manifesting Minds
by Rick Doblin Brad BurgeFeaturing essays and interviews with Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, Ram Dass, Albert Hofmann, Alexander (Sasha) Shulgin, Daniel Pinchbeck, Tim Robbins, Arne Naess, and electronic musician Simon Posford, as well as groundbreaking research and personal accounts, this one-of-a-kind anthology is a "best of" collection of articles and essays published by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Topics include the healing use of marijuana and psychedelics--including MDMA, ibogaine, LSD, and ayahuasca--for PTSD, anxiety, depression, and drug addiction, as well as positive effects of these substances in the realm of the arts, family, spirituality, ecology, and technology. Among many other thought-provoking and mind-opening pieces are the following:* "On Leary and Drugs at the End," by Carol Rosen and Vicki Marshall * "Psychedelic Rites of Passage," by Ram Dass * "To Be Read at the Funeral," by Albert Hofmann * "Another Green World: Psychedelics and Ecology," by Daniel Pinchbeck * "Psychedelics and Species Connectedness," by Stanley Krippner, PhD * "Huxley on Drugs and Creativity," by Aldous Huxley* "Psychedelics and the Deep Ecology Movement: A Conversation with Arne Naess," by Mark A. Schroll, PhD, and David Rothenberg * "Psychedelic Sensibility," by Tom Robbins * "Electronic Music and Psychedelics: An Interview with Simon Posford of Shpongle," by David Jay Brown * "How Psychedelics Informed My Sex Life and Sex Work," by Annie Sprinkle* "Consideration of Ayahuasca for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," by Jessica Nielson, PhD, and Julie Megler, MSN, NP-BC * "Psychedelics and Extreme Sports," by James Oroc * "Youth and Entheogens: A Modern Rite of Passage?," by Andrei Foldes with Amba, Eric Johnson, et al. * "Diary of an MDMA Subject," by Anonymous* "Dimethyltryptamine: Possible Endogenous Ligand of the Sigma-1 Receptor?," by Adam L. Halberstadt * "Lessons from Psychedelic Therapy," by Richard Yensen, PhD * "Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychoneuroimmunology, and Psychedelics," by Ana Maqueda * "Talking with Ann and Sasha Shulgin about the Existence of God and the Pleasures of Sex and Drugs," by Jon Hanna and Silvia ThyssenFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
Manifesto for Another World: Voices from Beyond the Dark (Open Media Series)
by Ariel DorfmanIn this interlocking prose web of first-person testimony, novelist, poet, and playwright Ariel Dorfman relates the struggles of fifty human rights activists hailing from more than forty countries. Manifesto for Another World features the words and struggles of internationally celebrated activists including Vaclav Havel, Baltasar Garzón, Helen Prejean, and Marian Wright Edelman; and Nobel Prize Laureates the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, José Ramos-Horta, and Bobby Muller. Equally moving are the stories of more than thirty others, unknown and (as yet) unsung beyond their national boundaries: Kailash Satyarthi, who has spent a lifetime working to free tens of thousands of victims of child labor in his native India, and Juliana Dogbadzi, who was sold into sexual slavery by her parents at age twelve, escaped after seventeen degrading years, and now is devoted to the liberation of African girls bound in the same terror. From their ranging voices Dorfman culls the message: freedom from persecution, and freedom of opportunity, for all. Manifesto for Another World is both a political testament and a work of art.
Manifesto for the Dead
by Domenic StansberryManifesto for the Dead is a surreal noir that takes as its main character the master of noir, the late crime novelist Jim Thompson at the end of his career, suspecting he has been framed by a Hollywood producer for the murder of a young starlet. An intricate blend of biography, fiction, and suspense, this literary thriller offers a hair-raising portrait of one of crime fiction's most notorious true-life figures--and a brutal satire of the entertainment industry in the tradition of The Day of the Locust. As the novel opens, the aging writer is at the end of his string--a habitué of Hollywood bars and endless drinking sessions at the Musso & Frank Grill. Here he is approached by a small-time producer, Billy Miracle, with an offer to work on a project designed to resurrect the career of a fading screen star. Thompson accepts, and soon finds himself at the center of a lurid triangle, inadvertently following a trail that leads from a dead starlet--found strangled in the back of a Cadillac--to the doorstep of one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Set in the seamy back streets of Los Angeles, in 1972, Manifesto for the Dead tells the story of legendary crime writer Jim Thompson in his darkest hour. It is a book about desire and lust, about a writer struggling with illusion, disillusion and fate on the back lots of Hollywood. But the Manifesto is also a novel-within-a-novel, telling two stories that intertwine--one set in Hollywood, the other in Thompson's imagination--each rushing headlong into the other, into that area where fact and fiction are no longer distinguishable, and the darkness is inseparable from the light.
Manifesto of a Tenured Radical
by Cary NelsonIn an age when innovative scholarly work is at an all-time high, the academy itself is being rocked by structural change. Funding is plummeting. Tenure increasingly seems a prospect for only the elite few. Ph.D.'s are going begging for even adjunct work. Into this tumult steps Cary Nelson, with a no- holds-barred account of recent developments in higher education. Eloquent and witty, Manifesto of a Tenured Radical urges academics to apply the theoretical advances of the last twenty years to an analysis of their own practices and standards of behavior. In the process, Nelson offers a devastating critique of current inequities and a detailed proposal for change in the form of A Twelve-Step Program for Academia.
Manifesto of a Tenured Radical ((none) Ser. #3)
by Cary NelsonIn an age when innovative scholarly work is at an all-time high, the academy itself is being rocked by structural change. Funding is plummeting. Tenure increasingly seems a prospect for only the elite few. Ph.D.'s are going begging for even adjunct work. Into this tumult steps Cary Nelson, with a no- holds-barred account of recent developments in higher education. Eloquent and witty, Manifesto of a Tenured Radical urges academics to apply the theoretical advances of the last twenty years to an analysis of their own practices and standards of behavior. In the process, Nelson offers a devastating critique of current inequities and a detailed proposal for change in the form of A Twelve-Step Program for Academia.
Manifesto: Three Classic Essays on How to Change the World
by Friedrich Engels Karl Marx Ernesto Che Guevara Rosa Luxemburg"Let's be realists, let's dream the impossible." Che Guevara's words summarize the radical vision of the four famous rebels presented in this book: Marx and Engels' "Communist Manifesto," Rosa Luxemburg's "Reform or Revolution" and Che Guevara's "Socialism and Humanity." Far from being lifeless historical documents, these manifestos for revolution will resonate with a new generation also seeking a better world. "The world described by Marx and Engels... is recognizably the world we live in 150 years later.
Manifestos and Polemics in Latin American Modern Art
by Patrick FrankBringing together sixty-five primary documents vital to understanding the history of art in Latin America since 1900, Patrick Frank shows how modern art developed in Latin America in this important new work complementing his previous book, Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America, Revised and Expanded Edition. Besides autobiographies, manifestos, interviews, and artists&’ statements, the editor has assembled material from videos, blogs, handwritten notes, flyers, lectures, and even an after-dinner speech. As the title suggests, many of the texts have a polemical or argumentative cast. In these documents, many of which appear in English for the first time, the artists themselves describe what they hope to accomplish and what they see as obstacles. Designed to show how modern art developed in Latin America, the documents begin with early modern expressions in the early twentieth century, then proceed through the avant-garde of the 1920s, the architectural boom of midcentury, and the Cold War years, and finally conclude with the postmodern artists in the new century.
Manifestos for History
by Sue Morgan Keith Jenkins Alun MunslowWritten by some of the world’s leading historians and theorists of history, Manifestos for History draws together a series of manifestos that address the question of what kinds of histories we ought to be considering and making in and for the twenty-first century. With a foreword by Joanna Bourke and an afterword by Hayden White, these manifestos – critical, innovative, reflexive, inspirational – are absolutely essential reading, not just for those embarking on the study of history, but for all those who would think seriously about ‘the nature of history’ in its present and possible future forms. This collection establishes a benchmark for all future considerations upon the discourse of history.
Manila And Santiago
by Jim LeekeThe U.S. Navy's first two-ocean war was the Spanish-American War of 1898. A war that was global in scope, with the decisive naval battles of war at Manila Bay and Santiago de Cuba separated by two months and over ten thousand miles. During these battles in this quick, modern war, America s New Steel Navy came of age. While the American commanders sailed to war with a technologically advanced fleet, it was the lessons they had learned from Adm. David Farragut in the Civil War that prepared them for victory over the Spaniards. This history of the U.S. Navy s operations in the war provides some memorable portraits of the colorful officers who decided the outcome of these battles: Shang Dewey in the Philippines and Fighting Bob Evans off southern Cuba; Jack Philip conning the Texas and Constructor Hobson scuttling the Merrimac; Clark of the Oregon pushing his battleship around South America; and Adm. William Sampson and Commodore Scott Schley ending their careers in controversy. These officers sailed into battle with a navy of middle-aged lieutenants and overworked bluejackets, along with green naval militiamen. They were accompanied by numerous onboard correspondents, who documented the war.In addition to descriptions of the men who fought or witnessed the pivotal battles on the American side, the book offers sympathetic portraits of several Spanish officers, the Dons for whom American sailors held little personal enmity. Admirals Patricio Montojo and Pasqual Cervera, doomed to sacrifice their forces for the pride of a dying empire, receive particular attention. The first study of the Spanish-American War to be published in many years, this book takes a journalistic approach to the subject, making the conflict and the people involved relevant to today s readers. This work details a war in which victory was determined as much by leadership as by the technology of the American Steel Navy.
Manila, 1645
by Pedro LuengoManila, 1645 reconstructs what the city of Manila was like before the earthquakes of the mid-seventeenth century. The book demonstrates the importance of addressing the history of Southeast Asia as a multi-layered framework, rather than a series of entangled histories. In doing so, Manila is contextualized not merely as a Spanish settlement connected to New Spain via America, but instead within Southeast Asia, situated between the Chinese and the Sulú Seas, and located in the centre of commercial routes used by Armenian, Dutch, and Portuguese traders. This historical and geographical context is crucial to understanding later cultural dialogues. Urban planning, housing and architecture, and social networks in the city are also examined. The book will appeal to students and scholars interested in early modern history, global history and architectural history.
Manipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda
by John Maxwell HamiltonWinner of the Goldsmith Book Prize by the Harvard Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public PolicyManipulating the Masses tells the story of the enduring threat to American democracy that arose out of World War I: the establishment of pervasive, systematic propaganda as an instrument of the state. During the Great War, the federal government exercised unprecedented power to shape the views and attitudes of American citizens. Its agent for this was the Committee on Public Information (CPI), established by President Woodrow Wilson one week after the United States entered the war in April 1917.Driven by its fiery chief, George Creel, the CPI reached every crevice of the nation, every day, and extended widely abroad. It established the first national newspaper, made prepackaged news a quotidian aspect of governing, and pioneered the concept of public diplomacy. It spread the Wilson administration’s messages through articles, cartoons, books, and advertisements in newspapers and magazines; through feature films and volunteer Four Minute Men who spoke during intermission; through posters plastered on buildings and along highways; and through pamphlets distributed by the millions. It enlisted the nation’s leading progressive journalists, advertising executives, and artists. It harnessed American universities and their professors to create propaganda and add legitimacy to its mission.Even as Creel insisted that the CPI was a conduit for reliable, fact-based information, the office regularly sanitized news, distorted facts, and played on emotions. Creel extolled transparency but established front organizations. Overseas, the CPI secretly subsidized news organs and bribed journalists. At home, it challenged the loyalty of those who occasionally questioned its tactics. Working closely with federal intelligence agencies eager to sniff out subversives and stifle dissent, the CPI was an accomplice to the Wilson administration’s trampling of civil liberties.Until now, the full story of the CPI has never been told. John Maxwell Hamilton consulted over 150 archival collections in the United States and Europe to write this revealing history, which shows the shortcuts to open, honest debate that even well-meaning propagandists take to bend others to their views. Every element of contemporary government propaganda has antecedents in the CPI. It is the ideal vehicle for understanding the rise of propaganda, its methods of operation, and the threat it poses to democracy.
Manipulating the OODA Loop: The Overlooked Role of Information Resource Management in Information Warfare
by Gregory M. SchechtmanA ground-swell of interest in information as a weapon of warfare is growing within the U.S. armed services. Military strategists are looking at information as a tool to leverage our forces and make them irresistible in battle. Yet, there is little agreement as to what information warfare (IW) is, let alone how it is best fought. This fundamental disagreement is serving as an impediment to unified actions as the Air Force seeks its role in this arena. In particular, information resource management practitioners are questioning their role in supporting this mission. This thesis discusses limitations of existing information warfare interpretations in light of Col John R. Boyd’s decision model, the Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action (OODA) Loop, and offers a synthesized model of information warfare for use in the Air Force. It then offers information resource management (IRM) as a viable decision-support mechanism in that interpretation. By analyzing the applicability of information resource management to the Air Force IW mission, this thesis proposes a better way to view information: a tool for winning the information war through making superior decisions more rapidly than our opponents. An understanding of how IRM and IW relate to one another will provide a model for achieving and maintaining dominance of this new realm of warfare.
Manipulative Fallacies in Early America: Studies on Selected Congressional Debates 1789 to 1799
by Juhani Rudanko Paul RickmanThis book implements a new approach to the study of manipulative tactics in selected Congressional debates in the early history of the United States, highlighting the ways in which language can be used to manipulate an audience. The identification and analysis of different informal fallacies is central in the approach adopted by the authors, and they privilege the role of covert intentions as a frequent ingredient of manipulation. They also show how different speakers can use different subtypes of the same fallacy in a debate, and investigate the tension between the policy preferences and goals of politicians, and existing laws. The book has been written without jargon, all concepts and terminology from the field of linguistic pragmatics are clearly defined, and it is accessible to the interested layperson wishing to become familiar with manipulative techniques in political rhetoric.
Manistee County
by Shannon McraeBetween 1860 and 1900, some say, Michigan lumber made more fortunes than California gold. Many of those fortunes were made in Manistee. Home to hardworking, self-made millionaires, Manistee also became a thriving cultural center, with elegant architecture, theatrical performances, and intellectual societies that debated the issues of the day. Steamers and schooners brought tourists across Lake Michigan to stroll the grand streets, relax on the beaches of Onekama's Portage Point Inn, or attend the latest play at the Ramsdell Theater. Manistee County also offered opportunities for America's newest immigrants. Drawn by the promise of land and economic opportunity, the new arrivals established communities in the city and surrounding townships. For some of these settlers, such as the Finns who founded Kaleva or the small religious community of Brethren, Manistee County held the promise of utopia. When the lumber era ended, Manistee County reinvented itself, replacing sawmills and lumberyards with salt wells, hydroelectric dams, and power plants. As it continued to draw tourists from across the lake and along newly built roads, Manistee County entered the modern age with a vibrant future to match its fascinating history.
Manistique
by M. Vonciel Leduc Schoolcraft County Historical SocietyManistique, as with many towns in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, became a boomtown as interest in natural resources made its westward movement. The area was first populated by Native Americans and occasional fur traders. Fr. Frederic Baraga made his appearance in the early 1800s bringing Christianity, but development of the area did not begin until the latter part of the 1800s. With the eastern United States' timber gone, Manistique was discovered in the 1870s and the timber rush began. Until the early 1900s, Manistique was a boomtown with sawmills, subsidiary companies, and supporting merchants and services. Once the timber was cut, the companies moved westward to find more timber and Manistique was left behind. As time went along in the last century, Manistique retained a few industries, but its primary focus has become serving as a mecca for tourism.
Manitoba Medicine: A Brief History
by Ian Carr Robert E. BeamishFor many Canadians, the state of our health care and medical system is at the top of the public agenda. By following the growth and development of modern medicine in one Canadian province, Manitoba Medicine provides an insight into where our present medical system came from and how it developed .Beginning with a description of some early Aboriginal healing practices and of the physicians of the Red River Settlement, Manitoba Medicine follows the struggles in the 1870s to establish what would become the first medical college and the first major hospitals in Western Canada. It chronicles the fight for public health in the 1920s, the development of health insurance and medicare after WWII, and medicine's role in fighting the 1950 Winnipeg Flood and the polio epidemic of the late 1950s. Manitoba Medicine also provides vivid accounts of many of the individuals who built Manitoba's medical system, including early educators like Swale Vincent, pioneering women physicians such as Charlotte Ross, important researchers like Bruce Chown, and colourful private practitioners such as Murrough O'Brien.
Manitoba Politics and Government: Issues, Institutions, Traditions
by Paul G. Thomas Curtis BrownManitoba has always been a province in the middle, geographically, economically, and culturally. Lacking Quebec’s cultural distinctiveness, Ontario’s traditional economic dominance, or Alberta’s combustible mix of prairie populism and oil wealth, Manitoba appears to blend into the background of the Canadian family portrait. But Manitoba has a distinct political culture, one that has been overlooked in contemporary political studies.Manitoba Politics and Government brings together the work of political scientists, historians, sociologists, economists, public servants, and journalists to present a comprehensive analysis of the province’s political life and its careful “mutual fund model” approach to economic and social policy that mirrors the steady and cautious nature of its citizens. Moving beyond the Legislature, the authors address contemporary social issues like poverty, environmental stewardship, gender equality, health care, and the province’s growing Aboriginal population to reveal the evolution of public policy in the province. They also examine the province’s role at the intergovernmental and international level.Manitoba Politics and Government is a rich and fascinating account of a province that strives for the centre, for the delicate middle ground where individualism and collectivism overlap, and where a multitude of different cultures and traditions create a highly balanced society.
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People
by Michael Wallis Wilma MankillerWilma Mankiller has been the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation since 1985. She tells her personal story (her political awakening came during the 1970 occupation of Alcatraz Island), interwoven with the complex history of the Cherokee Nation. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
Mankind Beyond Earth
by Claude PiantadosiSeeking to reenergize Americans' passion for the space program, the value of the Moon, and the importance of people in the final frontier, Claude A. Piantadosi presents a rich history of American space exploration and its extraordinary achievements. He emphasizes the importance of continuing manned and unmanned space missions to American and human interests, and he stresses the many adventures that still await us in the unfolding universe. Remaining cognizant of space exploration's practical and financial obstacles, Piantadosi nevertheless challenges us to revitalize our leadership in space and reap its vast scientific bounty.Along with being a captivating story of ambition, invention, and discovery, Piantadosi's history explains why space exploration is increasingly difficult and why space experts always seem to disagree. He argues that the future of the space program requires merging the practicalities of exploration with the constraints of human biology. Space science deals with the unknown, and the margin (and budget) for error is small. Lethal near-vacuum conditions, deadly cosmic radiation, microgravity, vast distances, and highly scattered resources remain immense physical problems. To be competitive, America needs to develop affordable space transportation and flexible exploration strategies grounded in sound science. Piantadosi closes with suggestions for accomplishing these goals, combining his skepticism as a scientist with an unshakable belief in space's untapped-and wholly worthwhile-potential.
Mankind Beyond Earth: The History, Science, and Future of Human Space Exploration
by Claude PiantadosiSeeking to reenergize Americans' passion for the space program, the value of further exploration of the Moon, and the importance of human beings on the final frontier, Claude A. Piantadosi presents a rich history of American space exploration and its major achievements. He emphasizes the importance of reclaiming national command of our manned program and continuing our unmanned space missions, and he stresses the many adventures that still await us in the unfolding universe. Acknowledging space exploration's practical and financial obstacles, Piantadosi challenges us to revitalize American leadership in space exploration in order to reap its scientific bounty.Piantadosi explains why space exploration, a captivating story of ambition, invention, and discovery, is also increasingly difficult and why space experts always seem to disagree. He argues that the future of the space program requires merging the practicalities of exploration with the constraints of human biology. Space science deals with the unknown, and the margin (and budget) for error is small. Lethal near-vacuum conditions, deadly cosmic radiation, microgravity, vast distances, and highly scattered resources remain immense physical problems. To forge ahead, America needs to develop affordable space transportation and flexible exploration strategies based in sound science. Piantadosi closes with suggestions for accomplishing these goals, combining his healthy skepticism as a scientist with an unshakable belief in space's untapped—and wholly worthwhile—potential.
Mankind and Deserts 1: Deserts, Aridity, Exploration and Conquests
by Guilhem Bourrié Fernand JolyThe wild beauty of deserts has always been a source of fascination the world over. Mankind and Deserts 1 – the first of three volumes – describes their location and geographic variety. There are both hot and cold deserts, those at high altitude or those at sea level, differing in climate but sharing the scarcity of water, extreme temperatures and often violent winds. According to paleoclimate evidence, however, deserts have not always been as arid as they are today. Deserts were a source of inspiration for many spiritual leaders, among them, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad; as well as conquerors, from Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan. Some avoided these deserts, or crossed them as fast as they could. Others adapted to them and developed vibrant civilizations and cities. From ancient, almost mythical, exploration to modern scientific studies, deserts have come to be better known yet still hold great appeal. This book traces the history of their knowledge while providing a basis for understanding their features and the tools needed for their protection, in an ever-changing world.