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The Concubine: A Novel
by Norah LoftsAcclaimed and beloved historical novelist Norah Lofts brings to life the danger, romance, and intrigue of the Tudor court that forever altered the course of English history. The king first noticed Anne Boleyn as a heartbroken sixteen-year-old, sullen and beautiful after a thwarted romance with the son of the Earl of Northumberland. "All eyes and hair," a courtier had said disparagingly of her, but when King Henry VIII fell for young Anne, nothing could keep him from what he desired. Against common sense and the urgings of his most trusted advisors, Henry defied all, blindly following his passion for Anne, using the power he held over the bodies and souls of all who reside in his realm and beyond. Anne's ascent to the throne elevates her from lady-in-waiting to the highest position a woman could attain, but her life spirals out of control when Henry is driven to desperate acts of betrayal and violence. The consequences of Anne's rise to power and eventual demise are felt well beyond the inner circle of the court. Loyalties, to church, to queen, to country, are tested, and -- in the wake of the king's volatile passions -- can be an unpredictable matter of life and death. First published in 1963 and adored by readers for generations, Lofts' lush and moving portrayal of the ambitious and doomed Anne Boleyn will continue to reign as a classic retelling of this epic chapter of history vividly brought to life.
Grandmother and the Priests: Stories
by Taylor CaldwellNew York Times Bestseller: In Victorian Britain, an affluent woman hosts a group of Catholic priests in her home—and listens as they tell their stories. Rose, a young girl visiting her grandmother, sits among eleven priests from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. As each guest shares the most challenging moments of their vocations, tests of faith that have brought them face-to-face with the miseries, temptations, and evils that lurk beyond the peaceful confines of the rectory, their worldly, wealthy hostess and her granddaughter come to learn the struggles and outcomes of these confrontations with the human condition. &“The priests themselves represent a mixed lot—men of exalted backgrounds, culture, worldly experience, who have found their hardest task bringing themselves down to the humble people of their flocks; men who understand only the intellectual, realistic aspects of their faith—and must learn to accept the mystical as well; men who hide their saintliness under uncouth exteriors, who learn the hard way to love their fellow men, who encounter devils as well as saints, murderers, sinners. . . . Lively reading.&” —Kirkus Reviews
In the American Grain (Second Edition)
by William Carlos WilliamsA new edition of William Carlos Williams’ loving and groundbreaking book about American history, with a new introduction by Rick Moody. Although admired by D. H. Lawrence, this modern classic went generally unnoticed during the years after its publication in 1925. Yet it is “a fundamental book, essential if one proposes to come to terms with American literature” (Times Literary Supplement). William Carlos Williams was not a historian, but he was fascinated by the texture of American history. Beginning with Columbus’s discovery of the Indies and moving on through Sir Walter Raleigh, Cotton Mather, Daniel Boone, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Aaron Burr, Edgar Allan Poe, and Abraham Lincoln, Williams found in the fabric of familiar episodes new shades of meaning and configurations of character. He brought a poetic imagination to the task of reconstructing a live tradition for Americans, and what results is one of the finest works of prose to have been penned by any writer of the twentieth century.
Joy in the Morning: A Novel
by Betty SmithFrom Betty Smith, author of the beloved American classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, comes an unsentimental yet radiant and powerfully uplifting tale of young love and marriage.In 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only eighteen, Annie travels alone halfway across the country to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law—and there they marry. But Carl and Annie’s first year together is much more difficult than they anticipated as they find themselves in a faraway place with little money and few friends. With hardship and poverty weighing heavily upon them, they come to realize that their greatest sources of strength, loyalty, and love, will help them make it through. A moving and unforgettable story, Joy in the Morning is “a glad affirmation that love can accomplish the impossible.” (Chicago Tribune)
The Late Clara Beame: A Novel
by Taylor CaldwellFrom the New York Times–bestselling author, a tale of family tensions and foul play at a snowed-in Connecticut country house . . . Laura and Henry Frazier, David Gates, and Alice Bullowe are in Connecticut for Christmas. The family is staying in a country home Laura inherited from her aunt, Clara, and Alice, also a niece of the late Clara Beame, is more than a little disappointed by the terms of the will. As an edge of hostility threatens to spoil the party, the drama only grows as manipulative games are played, a blizzard roars outside, a surprise guest arrives—and the holiday turns more scary than merry . . . &“One of the few mysteries where no one at all seems to be off limits as the murderer.&” —Dead YesterdayPraise for Taylor Caldwell &“Her sense of timing and her ability to keep even the most alert reader guessing is something readers don&’t find very often.&” —Hartford Courant &“This bestselling author can tell an engrossing story.&” —Publishers Weekly
Our God Is Marching On (The Essential Speeches of Dr. Martin Lut #1)
by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.A beautiful commemorative edition of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech "Our God Is Marching On,” part of Dr. King's archives published exclusively by HarperCollins.At the end of the march from Selma to Montgomery on March 25, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood in front of a crowd and celebrated the demanding work and effort that had been done by all in the fight against racial injustice for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this speech, Dr. King testified that this march, for justice had been long and difficult and would continue to be so as those with him resisted the call of normalcy in the name of Jim Crow.“Our God Is Marching On” showcases a message of determination, faith, and the unyielding pursuit of equality while remaining committed to nonviolence. This beautifully designed hardcover edition presents Dr. King’s speech in its entirety, paying tribute to this extraordinary leader and his immeasurable contribution, and inspiring a new generation of activists dedicated to carrying on the fight for justice and equality.
Pecos Crossing: Two Complete Novels Of The American West
by Elmer KeltonJohnny Fristo and Speck Quitman, young, hard-working cowboys from Fort Concho, Texas, have worked six months--at $20 a month--on the Devil's River. Their boss, a hawk-faced cow trader named Larramore, reneges on the money he owes the boys and sneaks out of the cow camp and heads for San Angelo.Fristo is tall and thin, his mind a hundred miles away; Quitman is short, bandy-legged, and "bedazzled by the flash of cards and the slosh of whiskey." The two are as different as sun and moon but are inseparable—and now they have a mission: find Larramore and extract the money he owes them.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu'Have little thought of self and as few desires as possible'Whether or not Lao Tzu was a historical figure is uncertain, but the wisdom gathered under his name in the fourth century BC is central to the understanding and practice of Taoism. One of the three great religions of China, Taoism is based upon a concept of the Tao, or Way, as the universal power through which all life flows. The Tao Te Ching offers a practical model by which both the individual and society can embody this belief, encouraging modesty and self-restraint as the true path to a harmonious and balanced existence.Translated with an Introduction by D. C. Lau
Thrilling Cities: Fourteen Cities Seen Through the Eyes of Ian Fleming, the Creator of James Bond
by Ian FlemingA CAPTIVATING JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD FROM THE CREATOR OF JAMES BONDIan Fleming’s world travels and interests, as well as his journalism and wartime experiences, lent authority to everything he wrote. In 1959, the Sunday Times commissioned Fleming to write a series of dispatches from the world’s most beguiling locales. The result was Thrilling Cities, a masterpiece of well-observed travelogue that stands ably alongside the author’s Bond canon.From Hong Kong to Honolulu, New York to Naples, he left the bright main streets for the back alleys, abandoning tourist sites in favor of underground haunts, and mingling with celebrities, gangsters and geishas. The result is a series of vivid snapshots of a mysterious, vanished world from a twentieth century Western perspective.Just like his most famous fictional creation, Ian Fleming was a well-traveled man of the world who knew where to go to find excitement, adventure…and danger. In Thrilling Cities, he takes us along on a journey of international intrigue worthy of James Bond.
Bad Characters: Stories
by Jean StaffordThis book displays at their height the wit, sensibility and psychological penetration that distinguish Miss Stafford's work. There are nine stories and a novella. They range in mood from the title story, a comic portrait of a resourceful child-criminal named Lottie Jump, to "The End of a Career," an elegiac and ironic tale of the declining years of a great beauty. In "A Reasonable Facsimile" Dr. Bohrmann, a retired professor philosophy, is unexpectedly rescued from an aggressively boring young house guest. "Cops and Robbers" is a chilling story of childhood horror and lovelessness that revolves around a father's trip to the barber with his five-year-old daughter.Several of the stories have as their common setting Miss Stafford's fiction town of Adams, Colorado—including an amusing saga of a girl's frustrated attempts to find a quiet spot to read ("A Reading Problem"), and two stories of failure ("In the Zoo") and success ("The Liberation") in the effort to escape from one's family. "Caveat Emptor" is a satire on the academic life and sub-life at the Alma Hettrick College for Girls; and in "The Captain's Gift" the sheltered and lavender-scented existence of old Mrs. Ramsey is violated by the reality of war.The major piece in Bad Characters is "A Winter's Tale," a haunting and evocative novella set in Heidelberg just before the outbreak of the war. It is dominated by the diabolic character of Frau Professor Persis Galt. This portrait of a former Bostonian who poses as an excessively devout convert is one of Miss Stafford's most brilliant fictional creations.This collection by Jean Stafford will be warmly welcomed by the many and devoted admirers of her novels and stories. To new readers the work of one of the best writers of our time will come as a joyful discovery.
Facing Retirement: A Guide for the Middle Aged and Elderly (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by A Country DoctorOriginally published in 1960 and revised in 1964 the blurb for Facing Retirement read:“Mature men and women are not afraid of advancing years. More and more seek to prepare themselves for retirement so that they may then find all the happiness they can.This phase of life is interesting to a widening circle, and in writing this book it was the author’s aim to discuss readably, simply, and from his experience with his patients, most relevant aspects of these later years. It was a pioneer in its approach: any similar books which may follow, if they help to lessen the burden of the elderly and aged which has to be sustained by the younger generations, must be of the highest importance not only to individuals but to the nation.For nearly thirty years the author of this book has had the medical care of over 2,000 people of all ages in a cluster of villages and hamlets at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. He has been chairman or president of the County Association for the Care of old People since its inception in 1952.”Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.
Public Administration in France (Routledge Revivals)
by F. F. Ridley J. BlondelOriginally published in 1964, this book was an important addition to the growing field of comparative government and administration. This book covers the organisation of the French cabinet, the structure and functions of government departments and of local authorities, the civil service, the police, the judiciary and public enterprise. There are also chapters on economic planning, the administration of social services and of the educational system. The book explains the spirit as well as the mechanism of the French administrative system, the principles that underly it and the wider background against which it is set
Those Harper Women
by Stephen BirminghamFour generations of women grapple with the gilded cage of their family dynasty in this #1 New York Times–bestselling author&’s &“big, bustling novel&” (The New York Times). Meredith Harper made millions in rum before Prohibition ruined the market. When he died, he left behind an estate of such vast wealth that his descendants were set for life—but what sort of life would it be? In Those Harper Women, Stephen Birmingham presents a fictional group portrait of women who pass down both fortunes and misfortunes, who want for nothing save happiness. Across generations, the Harper women seek joy, self-fulfillment, or mere escape from the trappings of their privilege. But through trips to Europe and the Caribbean, through marriage and divorce, the women find themselves returning time and again to the looming shadow of Meredith and his money.
The Magician's Wife
by James M. CainFor the love of a beautiful waitress, a meat salesman will turn butcher in this crime thriller by “one of the greats of American noir” (The Guardian).Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant’s Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He arrives at the Portico for lunch, and eats his fill of his company’s beef, but leaves with an entirely different hunger gnawing at his gut—a volcanic passion that will tear him apart. Lockwood is mesmerized by hostess Sally Alexis, a magician’s wife. She rebuffs his first pass, but calls him up later…. Although Sally’s marriage is miserable, she won’t leave her husband in order to secure an inheritance for her little boy. And as the lovers get closer, Lockwood becomes an amateur illusionist himself, focusing on one very particular deadly trick—how to make a magician disappear.“James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader.” —Anne Rice, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Interview with a Vampire
Mississippi: The Long, Hot Summer (Civil Rights in Mississippi Series)
by William McCordIn 1964, sociologist William McCord, long interested in movements for social change in the United States, began a study of Mississippi's Freedom Summer. Stanford University, where McCord taught, had been the site of recruiting efforts for student volunteers for the Freedom Summer project by such activists as Robert Moses and Allard Lowenstein. Described by his wife as “an old-fashioned liberal,” McCord believed that he should both examine and participate in events in Mississippi. He accompanied student workers and black Mississippians to courthouses and Freedom Houses, and he attracted police attention as he studied the mechanisms of white supremacy and the black nonviolent campaign against racial segregation. Published in 1965 by W. W. Norton, his book, Mississippi: The Long, Hot Summer, is one of the first examinations of the events of 1964 by a scholar. It provides a compelling, detailed account of Mississippi people and places, including the thousands of student workers who found in the state both opportunities and severe challenges. McCord's work sought to communicate to a broad audience the depth of repression in Mississippi. Here was evidence of the need for federal action to address what he recognized as both national and southern failures to secure civil rights for black Americans. His field work and activism in Mississippi offered a perspective that few other academics or other white Americans had shared. Historian Françoise N. Hamlin provides a substantial introduction that sets McCord's work within the context of other narratives of Freedom Summer and explores McCord's broader career that combined distinguished scholarship with social activism.
Three Revenge Tragedies
by Cyril Tourneur John Webster Thomas MiddletonFollowing the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign in the early seventeenth century, the new court of King James was beset by political instability and moral corruption. This atmosphere provided fertile ground for the dramatists of the age, whose plays explore the ways in which social decadence and the abuse of power breed resentment and lead inexorably to violence and bloody retribution. In Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy, the debauched son of an Italian Duke attempts to rape the virtuous Gloriana - a veiled reference to Elizabeth I. Webster's The White Devil depicts a sinister world of intrigue and murderous infidelity, while The Changeling, perhaps Middleton's supreme achievement, powerfully portrays a woman bringing about her own unwitting destruction. All three are masterpieces of brooding intensity, dominated by images of decay, disillusionment and death.
The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America
by Magnus Magnusson Hermann PalssonOne of the most arresting stories in the history of exploration, these two Icelandic sagas tell of the discovery of America by Norsemen five centuries before Christopher Columbus. Together, the direct, forceful twelfth-century Graenlendinga Saga and the more polished and scholarly Eirik's Saga, written some hundred years later, recount how Eirik the Red founded an Icelandic colony in Greenland and how his son, Leif the Lucky, later sailed south to explore - and if possible exploit - the chance discovery by Bjarni Herjolfsson of an unknown land. In spare and vigorous prose they record Europe's first surprise glimpse of the eastern shores of the North American continent and the natives who inhabited them.
The War with Hannibal: The History of Rome from its Foundation Books 21-30
by LivyIn The War with Hannibal, Livy (59 BC-AD 17) chronicles the events of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, until the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. He vividly recreates the immense armies of Hannibal, complete with elephants, crossing the Alps; the panic as they approached the gates of Rome; and the decimation of the Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Yet it is also the clash of personalities that fascinates Livy, from great debates in the Senate to the historic meeting between Scipio and Hannibal before the decisive battle. Livy never hesitates to introduce both intense drama and moral lessons into his work, and here he brings a turbulent episode in history powerfully to life.
Another Spring
by Loula Grace ErdmanLong lines of refugees wind their way through all of recorded history. Today, numbered in the millions, the dispossessed wander across most of the countries of the earth. Here is an eloquent and dramatic novel about some exiles of the American past, victims of Order Number Eleven. On a hot August day in 1863, the military order was posted in four western counties of Missouri, banishing by Federal edict all inhabitants, sympathizers of the Union as well as the Confederacy. Harried by roaming hostile bands, their homes burned, thousands fled the proscribed area. Taking only the barest necessities, the Weatherlys and the Nichols joined the crowds jamming the dusty roads. They were rich landowners and, despite the conflict in loyalties, friends. The bond between them was strengthened by the engagement of Richard Nichols and the Weatherlys’ niece Betsey. And then there were the Carroways, neighbors, too, but strangers, separated by a gulf of caste and privilege. Yet it was Lura Carroway’s brother Pete who was to play a decisive role in the future of the little group. The troubled days of the exodus began -- of being rejected and driven on, of living off the land, of hunger and numbing fatigue. Crises and danger from secret enemies lay ahead of them. Life itself would depend on their being able to forget their old ways, on their ability to change. But the journey into fear would be a journey of self-discovery, of tragedy balanced by hope. And for some of them, love would come. It would not have the romantic background of balls and parties that young Susan Nichols had been brought up to expect, but against the shadows it would cast a stronger light. Miss Erdman writes with authority of a period and a place that she knows well. Her novel Many A Voyage was about Kansas during that dark and bloody era of warfare between the two states. Now, in Another Spring she has told a compelling story about a group of exiles bound together in a struggle for survival--a story that is as timely as the accounts of the refugees of today.
The Art of Memory
by Frances A YatesThis unique and brilliant book is a history of human knowledge. Before the invention of printing, a trained memory was of vital importance. Based on a technique of impressing 'places' and 'images' on the mind, the ancient Greeks created an elaborate memory system which in turn was inherited by the Romans and passed into the European tradition, to be revived, in occult form, during the Renaissance. Frances Yates sheds light on Dante’s Divine Comedy, the form of the Shakespearian theatre and the history of ancient architecture; The Art of Memory is an invaluable contribution to aesthetics and psychology, and to the history of philosophy, of science and of literature.
Fast Start, Fast Finish
by Stephen BirminghamA family man risks everything to pursue his artistic dreams, in this novel of marriage, betrayal, and suburban malaise by the author of The Auerbach Will. California art director Charlie Lord has all the makings of a surefire winner. But despite his good looks, wit, and sophistication, his track record shows a series of blazing starts followed by fast, ego-crushing finishes. His marriage to Nancy, complete with three almost grown-up children and an elegant house in an exclusive suburb, gave him all the trappings of happiness. Still, none of these things can satisfy Charlie&’s dreams of success on a grand scale. Now he&’s off and running once again—taking his family across the country to New York, where he hopes to further his career as an artist. But Charlie soon finds himself submerged in a sea of troubles . . . and a fevered love affair that threatens to destroy his life.
Maggie-Now: A Novel
by Betty SmithBetty Smith, the beloved author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, weaves a riveting modern myth out of the experiences of her own life in this rediscovered classic.In Brooklyn's unforgiving urban jungle, Maggie Moore is torn between answering her own needs and catering to the desirous men who dominate her life. Confronted by her quarrelsome Irish immigrant father, the feckless lover who may become her husband, and others, Maggie must learn to navigate a cycle of loss, separation, and hope as she forges her own path toward happiness.With characteristic warmth, compelling insight, and easy, conversational prose, Maggie-Now poignantly illuminates one woman's struggles and successes as she grapples with timeless questions of desire, duty, self-sacrifice, and the quest for fulfillment. Maggie-Now is an unforgettable masterpiece from one of the twentieth century's greatest talents.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches
by Matsuo Basho'It was with aweThat I beheldFresh leaves, green leaves,Bright in the sun'When the Japanese haiku master Basho composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, he was an ardent student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He writes of the seasons changing, the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. These writings not only chronicle Basho's travels, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.Translated with an Introduction by Nobuyuki Yuasa
Old and Alone: A Sociological Study of Old People (Routledge Library Editions: Aging)
by Jeremy TunstallWhat is it like to be an isolated old widow, living alone on the bare old-age pension? In the 1960s, the question had become a standard refrain. Originally published in 1966, this was the first full-length study by a sociologist of isolation in old age.Although the majority of old people were in no sense a problem group at the time, a substantial minority of the elderly were ‘alone’ in one or more ways. About 1.3 million people aged sixty-five and over in Britain lived alone; a large number admitted to feeling lonely, at least sometime. About a million were actually socially isolated in terms of low level and frequency of social contact. Mr Tunstall also uses a fourth category of aloneness – namely anomie (as developed by Durkheim, Merton, and Srole).This report uses careful and statistical analysis of the four types of aloneness and of specially affected groups such as the single, the recently widowed, and the housebound. But it also includes details of interviews with ten highly individual old people from suburban Harrow, booming Northampton, industrial revolution Oldham, and rural South Norfolk.The book contains a discussion of the problem of personality in isolation, and a commentary on the inadequacies of social theory about old age. Finally, the concluding chapter suggests a wide variety of policy measures which might help to alleviate social isolation in old age.
Tales of the Jazz Age (Collins Classics Ser. #Vol. 1)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' sees a baby born in 1860 begin life as an old man and then age backwards. F. Scott Fitzgerald hinted at this kind of inversion when he called his era 'a generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken'. Perhaps nowhere in American fiction has this 'Lost Generation' been more vividly preserved than in Fitzgerald's short fiction. Spanning the early twentieth-century American landscape, this collection captures, with Fitzgerald's signature blend of enchantment and disillusionment, America during the Jazz Age.