David Bodanis

Passionate Minds: Emilie Du Chatelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 2007

It was 1733 when the poet and philosopher Voltaire met Emilie du Châtelet, a beguiling--and married--aristocrat who would one day popularize Newton's arcane ideas and pave the way for Einstein's theories. In an era when women were rarely permitted any serious schooling, this twenty-seven-year-old's nimble conversation and unusual brilliance led Voltaire, then in his late thirties, to wonder, "Why did you only reach me so late?" They fell immediately and passionately in love.Through the prism of their tumultuous fifteen-year relationship we see the crumbling of an ancient social order and the birth of the Enlightenment. Together the two lovers rebuilt a dilapidated and isolated rural chateau at Cirey where they conducted scientific experiments, entertained many of the leading thinkers of the burgeoning scientific revolution, and developed radical ideas about the monarchy, the nature of free will, the subordination of women, and the separation of church and state. But their time together was filled with far more than reading and intellectual conversation. There were frantic gallopings across France, sword fights in front of besieged German fortresses, and a deadly burning of ...

Douglas Rogers

The Last Resort: A Memoir of Mischief and Mayhem on a Family Farm in Africa

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 2010

Thrilling, heartbreaking, and, at times, absurdly funny, The Last Resort is a remarkable true story about one family in a country under siege and a testament to the love, perseverance, and resilience of the human spirit. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Douglas Rogers is the son of white farmers living through that country's long and tense transition from postcolonial rule. He escaped the dull future mapped out for him by his parents for one of adventure and excitement in Europe and the United States. But when Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe launched his violent program to reclaim white-owned land and Rogers's parents were caught in the cross fire, everything changed. Lyn and Ros, the owners of Drifters-a famous game farm and backpacker lodge in the eastern mountains that was one of the most popular budget resorts in the country-found their home and resort under siege, their friends and neighbors expelled, and their lives in danger. But instead of leaving, as their son pleads with them to do, they haul out a shotgun and decide to stay. On returning to the country of his birth, Rogers finds his once orderly and progressive home transformed into something resembling a Marx Brothers ...

Roger Benimoff

Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain's Memoir

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 2010

"Running away from God doesn't work. I had tried." --Roger Benimoff As he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God...He is my hope, strength, and focus. But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job-the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions "outside the wire" while under enemy fire-began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he'd always relied on to hold him up-his faith in God-begin to crumble. Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak. Benimoff's spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened ...

Myra Friedman

Buried Alive: The Biography of Janis Joplin

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 1992

Electrifying, highly acclaimed, and intensely personal, this new and updated version of Myra Friedman's classic biography of Janis Joplin teems with dramatic insights into Joplin's genius and into the chaotic times that catapulted her to fame as the legendary queen of rock. It is a stunning panorama of the turbulent decade when Joplin's was the rallying voice of a generation that lost itself in her music and found itself in her words. From her small hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, from the intimate coffeehouses to the supercharged concert halls, from the glitter of worldwide fame to her tragic end in a Hollywood hotel, here is all the fire and anguish of an immortal, immensely talented, and troubled performer who devoured everything the rock scene had to offer in a fatal attempt to make peace with herself and her era. Yet, in an eloquent introduction recently written by the author, Joplin emerges from her "ugly duckling" childhood as a woman truly ahead of her time, an outrageous rebel, a defiant outcast and artist of incomparable authenticity who, almost in spite of herself, became to so many a symbol of triumph over adversity. This edition also ...

Michael Medved

The 10 Big Lies about America: Combating Destructive Distortions about Our Nation

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 2009

"It ain't so much the things we don't know that get us into trouble," nineteenth-century humorist Josh Billings remarked. "It's the things we know that just ain't so." In this bold New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author and talk-radio host Michael Medved zeroes in on ten of the biggest fallacies that millions of Americans believe about our country-in spite of incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. The Big Lies exposed and dissected include: - America was founded on genocide against Native Americans. - The United States is uniquely guilty for the crime of slavery and built its wealth on stolen African labor. - Aggressive governmental programs offer the only remedy for economic downturns and poverty. - The Founders intended a secular, not Christian, nation. Each of the ten lies is a grotesque, propagandistic misrepresentation of the historical record. Medved's witty, well-documented rebuttal supplies the ammunition necessary to fire back the next time somebody tries to recycle destructive distortions about our nation.

William Stafford

The Darkness Around Us Is Deep: Selected Poems of William Stafford

Editura: Harper Perennial

Anul aparitiei: 1993

Chapter One Family and Children with Kit, Age Seven, at the Beach We would climb the highest dune, from there to gaze and come down: the ocean was performing; we contributed our climb. Waves leapfrogged and came straight out of the storm. What should our gaze mean? K it waited for me to decide. Standing on such a hill, what would you tell your child? That was an absolute vista. Those waves raced far, and cold. "How far could you swim, Daddy, in such a storm?" "As far as was needed," I said, and as I talked, I swam. Passing Remark in scenery I like flat country. In life I don't like much to happen. In personalities I like mild colorless people. And in colors I prefer gray and brown. My wife, a vivid girl from the mountains, says, "Then why did you choose me?" Mildly I lower my brown eyes-- there are so many things admirable people do not understand. At Our House Home late, one lamp turned low, crumpled pillow on the couch, wet dishes in the sink (late snack), in every child's room the checked, slow, sure breath-- Suddenly in this doorway where I stand in this house I see this place again, this time the night as quiet, the house as well secured, all breath but mine borne gently on ...

Jason Elias, Katherine Ketcham

Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity: Understanding the Five Elemental Types for Health and Well-Being

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 1999

Reflecting on the connection between the rise in chronic immune disorders and toxic environmental and lifestyle patterns, herbalist and acupuncturist Jason Elias and collaborator Katherine Ketcham looked to the 5,000-year-old The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine to seek clues for restoring the balance of body and mind. In Chinese Medicine for Maximum Immunity , Elias and Ketcham show how to use the preventive strategies and gentle, supportive remedies of traditional Chinese medicine to heal contemporary chronic illnesses and bolster immunity. The book teaches readers how to identify which element--Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water--most directly influences them and how to correct imbalances that can lead to particular physical, emotional, and spiritual disorders with step-by-step instruction for using stress-reduction techniques, diet and exercise, herbs, and acupressure.

Emily Craig

Teasing Secrets from the Dead: My Investigations at America's Most Infamous Crime Scenes

Editura: Three Rivers Press (CA)

Anul aparitiei: 2005

Teasing Secrets from the Dead is a front-lines story of crime scene investigation at some of the most infamous sites in recent history. In this absorbing, surprising, and undeniably compelling book, forensics expert Emily Craig tells her own story of a life spent teasing secrets from the dead. Emily Craig has been a witness to history, helping to seek justice for thousands of murder victims, both famous and unknown. It's a personal story that you won't soon forget. Emily first became intrigued by forensics work when, as a respected medical illustrator, she was called in by the local police to create a model of a murder victim's face. Her fascination with that case led to a dramatic midlife career change: She would go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist--and one of the most respected and best-known "bone hunters" in the nation. As a student working with the FBI in Waco, Emily helped uncover definitive proof that many of the Branch Davidians had been shot to death before the fire, including their leader, David Koresh, whose bullet-pierced skull she reconstructed with her own hands. Upon graduation, Emily landed a prestigious full-time job as forensic anthropologist for ...

D.J. MacHale

The Rivers of Zadaa

Editura: Aladdin Paperbacks

Anul aparitiei: 2006

THE BATTLE CONTINUES. The struggle of good versus evil continues as Bobby Pendragon follows Saint Dane to the territory of Zadaa. Saint Dane's influence has fueled the fire of discontent between two warring tribes: the Rokador and the Batu. This is also the territory where the Traveler Loor lives as a member of the Batu. Together she and Bobby must work to thwart Saint Dane's efforts to destroy Zadaa. But as Bobby pursues Saint Dane, he begins to notice changes in himself. He is no longer a flip kid looking for excitement. He is a young man beginning to see this quest as more than a series of adventures. He is also learning that as a Traveler, he had powers no normal human should have.

Robert Fulghum

From Beginning to End

Editura: Ivy Books

Anul aparitiei: 1996

FROM BEGINNING TO END Why "rituals"? My thinking was set in motion by those who, knowing I was a parish minister for many years, have asked me for advice about ceremonies and celebrations. They wanted words to use at graduations, funerals, and the welcoming of children. They inquired about grace at family meals, the reaffirmation of wedding vows, and ways to heal wounds suffered in personal conflict. People requested help with the rituals of solitude, such as meditation, prayer, and contemplation. . . . Rituals do not always involve words, occasions, officials, or an audience. Rituals are often silent, solitary, and self-contained. The most powerful rites of passage are reflective--when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over. I see ritual when people sit together silently by an open fire. Remembering. As human beings have remembered for thousands and thousands of years. FULGHUM

Craig L. Symonds (Author)

The Civil War at Sea

Editura: OXFORD UNIV PR

Anul aparitiei: 2012

Continuing in the vein of his Lincoln Prize-winning book Lincoln and His Admirals, acclaimed naval historian Craig L. Symonds presents a masterful history of the Civil War navies--both Union and Confederate--and places them within the broader context of the emerging industrial age. Symonds begins with an account of the dramatic pre-war revolution in naval technology--the advent of steam propulsion, the screw propeller, and larger and more powerful rifled guns that could fire explosive shells as well as solid shot. These extraordinary changes were epitomized in the famous "Battle of the Ironclads"--one of the great stories of the Civil War--pitting USS Monitor against the larger and more heavily armed CSS Virginia (also known as Merrimack). Symonds also offers an overview of Lincoln's blockade of the South, a vast campaign involving as many as 500 ships and 100,000 men; discusses the fierce naval war for control of the rivers in the West; and looks at the important siege of Charleston, which would last three years and involve 40,000 men and sixty warships. Symonds concludes with three key episodes from the end of the war--the dramatic Battle of Mobile Bay, where Farragut delivered ...

Rufe Lefors (Author)

Facts as I Remember Them: The Autobiography of Rufe Lefors

Editura: UNIV OF TEXAS PR

Anul aparitiei: 1986

The rivers of the Texas Panhandle, the Canadian, and the forks of the Red break through the Cap Rock at the eastern edge of the Staked Plains. It's rough, bleak country, with few trees and a great expanse of sky. Storms that form on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains sweep through with nothing much to slow them down. And the small dusty towns that serve this vast ranchland cling to the waterways as they have for over a hundred years, since their early settlement. Their names aren't well known now, but they were once focal points in a rugged country where buffalo hunters, trail drivers, outlaws, and ordinary folks alike passed through. Rufe LeFors was one such "ordinary" man. With his father and older brothers, he was among the first to settle this country, drawn to West Texas by tales of open land and good grass. His life story, set down near the end of his long and adventurous life, is the best sort of insider's history, the chronicle of a life lived fully amid the exciting events and rough landscape of the frontier's final years. Rufe LeFors recorded his story over the course of a decade, finishing up in 1941 in his eighty-first year. His memoirs span the period from the ...

Diane Haeger (Author)

The Perfect Royal Mistress

Editura: THREE RIVERS PR

Anul aparitiei: 2007

Born into poverty and raised in a brothel, Nell Gwynne sells oranges in the pit at London's King's Theater, newly reopened after the plague and the Great Fire devastated the city. Soon, her quick sense of humor and natural charm get her noticed by those who have the means to make her life easier. But the street-smart Nell knows a woman doesn't get ahead by selling her body. Through talent, charm, intelligence, and sheer determination--as well as a keen understanding of how the world operates--Nell works her way out of the pit and onto the stage to become the leading comedic actress of the day. Her skills and beauty quickly win the attention of all of London--eventually even catching the eye of King Charles II. Their attraction is as real as it is unlikely, and the scrappy orange girl with the pretty face and the quick wit soon finds herself plunged into the confusing and dangerous world of the court, where she learns there are few she can trust--and many whom she cannot turn her back on. From the gritty streets of seventeenth-century London, to the backstage glamour of its theaters, to the glittering court of Charles II, The Perfect Royal Mistress is a love story for the ages, the ...

Gregg Olsen (Author)

The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America's Richest Silver Mine

Editura: THREE RIVERS PR

Anul aparitiei: 2006

"A vividly detailed, heartbreaking tale about a dark, alien place, the people who loved working there and a town that has never been the same. He brings to life the hot, dirty, treasure-hunt environment where danger was a miner's heroin." --Seattle Times "Investigation at its best." --Tucson Citizen On May 2, 1972, 174 miners entered Sunshine Mine in Kellogg, Idaho, on their daily quest for silver. From his office window, safety engineer Bob Launhardt could see the air shafts that fed fresh air into the mine, which was more than a mile below the surface. Sunshine was a fireproof hardrock mine, full of nothing but cold, dripping wet stone. There were many safety concerns, but fire wasn't one of them. So when thick black smoke began pouring from one of the air shafts, Launhardt was as amazed as he was struck with fear. When the alarm sounded, less than half of the dayshift was able to return to the surface. The others were too deep in the mine to escape. Scores of miners died almost immediately, but in one of the deepest corners of the mine, Ron Flory and Tom Wilkinson were left alone and in total darkness, surviving off a trickle of fresh air from a borehole. The miners' families ...

Patrick Carman (Author)

Rivers of Fire

Editura: LITTLE BROWN & CO INC

Anul aparitiei: 2009

In bestselling author Patrick Carman's rich and riveting follow-up to The House of Power , an extraordinary world meets its destiny in an epic and unforgettable rebirth. The world of Atherton has collapsed and the three levels have become one. Humans and monsters, once separated by vast cliffs, now roam the surface of Atherton together. The inside of Atherton--where the most troubling secrets are hidden--has been breached. While Edgar embarks on a life-or-death quest to find Atherton's mad maker, his two friends, Samuel and Isabel, venture through dangerous underground realms, confronting deadly cave dwellers, rivers of fire, and waters of life. Atherton is not what it seems at all, but something far more dangerous, with a history locked inside the mind of a madman and a future beyond Edgar's wildest imagining.

Dominick Dunne (Author)

Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments

Editura: THREE RIVERS PR

Anul aparitiei: 2002

Dominick Dunne's mesmerizing tales of justice denied and justice affirmed. For more than two decades, Vanity Fair published Dominick Dunne's brilliant, revelatory chronicles of the most famous crimes, trials, and punishments of our time. Whether writing of Claus von Bülow's romp through two trials; the Los Angeles media frenzy surrounding O.J. Simpson; the death by fire of multibillionaire banker Edmond Safra; or the Greenwich, Connecticut, murder of Martha Moxley and the indictment--decades later--of Michael Skakel, Dominick Dunne tells it honestly and tells it from his unique perspective. His search for the truth is relentless.

Jean Plaidy (Author)

Royal Road to Fotheringhay: The Story of Mary, Queen of Scots

Editura: THREE RIVERS PR

Anul aparitiei: 2004

The haunting story of the beautiful--and tragic--Mary, Queen of Scots, as only legendary novelist Jean Plaidy could write it Mary Stuart became Queen of Scotland at the tender age of six days old. Her French-born mother, the Queen Regent, knew immediately that the infant queen would be a vulnerable pawn in the power struggle between Scotland's clans and nobles. So Mary was sent away from the land of her birth and raised in the sophisticated and glittering court of France. Unusually tall and slim, a writer of music and poetry, Mary was celebrated throughout Europe for her beauty and intellect. Married in her teens to the Dauphin François, she would become not only Queen of Scotland but Queen of France as well. But Mary's happiness was short-lived. Her husband, always sickly, died after only two years on the throne, and there was no place for Mary in the court of the new king. At the age of twenty, she returned to Scotland, a place she barely knew. Once home, the Queen of Scots discovered she was a stranger in her own country. She spoke only French and was a devout Catholic in a land of stern Presbyterians. Her nation was controlled by a quarrelsome group of lords, including her ...

M. R. Kania (Author)

Kynwulf

Editura: SNOW RIVER PR

Anul aparitiei: 2011

Alex Kynwulf looks different from most people, a lot different. Fresh out of college, against all the odds, Alex finds a job on the Sleeping Deer Ranger District of the White Cloud National Forest in the little town of Goldburg, Idaho. Working for the U.S. Forest Service is a new adventure for Alex, often more than he would like. Tormented by his inability to act with purpose and need, Alex struggles with a unique inertia and fumbles in and out of love as fate moves him toward the one big thing. "Kynwulf" is an unconventional book, with strong, emotional storytelling. The narrative is a contemporary story of life, love and landscape, set in the fictional small town of Goldburg, Idaho, a back-water Forest Service community in Central Idaho, and headquarters for the Sleeping Deer Ranger District of the White Cloud National Forest. The characters in "Kynwulf"comprise an offbeat cast, with a ripe blend of humor, sex, pathos and irony wrapped up in each of them. Alex Kynwulf, a recent graduate from back east, and his on-again, off-again cowgirl girlfriend, Angelica Kowalski, are the main characters. The supporting cast includes: Big Stanley, the extra-large size District Ranger, Buck ...

O. J. Reichman (Author)

Living Landscapes of Kansas

Editura: UNIV PR OF KANSAS

Anul aparitiei: 1995

This luminous volume offers a rich feast of words and images depicting nature's unexpected beauty in Kansas. With a keen ecological sense, O. J. Reichman and Steve Mulligan present a breathtaking reminder of the state's remarkable natural heritage.Reflecting the marvelous alchemy of earth, wind, fire, and water enacted over countless centuries, Reichman's meditative text and Mulligan's stunning color photographs reveal a wondrously diverse state. Ranging across both widely known and unfamiliar forests and prairies, rivers and lakes, geological formations and botanical splendors, they celebrate this diversity.Featured in these pages are the sunlit bluffs of the Arikaree River, the Red Hills beneath a winter sky, the meandering Chikaskia River, Castle Rock, Pillsbury Crossing, Keyhole Arch in Monument Rocks National Landmark, Breidenthal Reserve's oak and hickory forests, sweeping waves of Big Bluestem and spring fires on Konza Prairie, Cimarron National Grasslands, the Mill Creek waterfall, Shermerhorn Cave, the wetlands of Cheyenne Bottoms, and a vast array of blooming phlox, columbine, larkspur, butterfly milkweed, dogwood, and wild rose.More than any previous work, Living ...

Jay Luvaas (Editor)

Guide to the Battle of Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg

Editura: UNIV PR OF KANSAS

Anul aparitiei: 1996

The battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 1862-63, were remarkable in several respects. Both revealed the problems of mounting a serious attack at night and provided the first examples of the now-familiar trench warfare. Fredericksburg featured street fighting and river crossings under fire. Chancellorsville was marked by Stonewall Jackson's death and the rare instance of mounted cavalry attacking infantry. In addition, the latter battle also demonstrated in striking fashion the profound influence of the commander on the battle. The Union committed more soldiers, supplies, money, and better equipment than did the Confederacy, and yet Lee won. Eyewitness accounts by battle participants make these guides an invaluable resource for travelers and nontravelers who want a greater understanding of five of the most devastating yet influential years in our nation's history. Explicit directions to points of interest and maps--illustrating the action and showing the detail of troop position, roads, rivers, elevations, and tree lines as they were 130 years ago--help bring the battles to life. In the field, these guides can be used to recreate each battle's setting and proportions, ...