Althea by
WASHINGTON POST BEST NONFICTION OF 2023 KIRKUS REVIEWS' BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF 2023 SHORLISTED FOR THE 2023 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR "A captivating book that brilliantly reveals an American sports legend long overlooked. Sally Jacobs tells the riveting story of Althea Gibson, my personal shero, who overcame daunting odds - on the tennis court and off - to stand at the world pinnacle of her sport and became an inspiration to many." -- Billie Jean King In 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson first walked onto the diamond at Ebbets Field, the all-white, upper-crust US Lawn Tennis Association opened its door just a crack to receive a powerhouse player who would integrate "the game of royalty." The player was a street-savvy young Black woman from Harlem named Althea Gibson who was about as out-of-place in that rarefied and intolerant world as any aspiring tennis champion could be. Her tattered jeans and short-cropped hair drew stares from everyone who watched her play, but her astonishing performance on the court soon eclipsed the negative feelings being cast her way as she eventually became one of the greatest American tennis champions. Gibson had a stunning career. Raised in New York and trained by a pair of tennis-playing doctors in the South, Gibson's immense talent on the court opened the door for her to compete around the world. She won top prizes at Wimbledon and Forest Hills time and time again. The young woman underestimated by so many wound up shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II, being driven up Broadway in a snowstorm of ticker tape, and ultimately became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the second to appear on the cover of Time. In a crowning achievement, Althea Gibson became the No. One ranked female tennis player in the world for both 1957 and 1958. Seven years later she broke the color barrier again where she became the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). In Althea, prize-winning former Boston Globe reporter Sally H. Jacobs tells the heart-rending story of this pioneer, a remarkable woman who was a trailblazer, a champion, and one of the most remarkable Americans of the twentieth century.
America Before 1787 by
An original account, drawing on both history and social science, of the causes and consequences of the American Revolution With America before 1787, Jon Elster offers the second volume of a projected trilogy that examines the emergence of constitutional politics in France and America. Here, he explores the increasingly uneasy relations between Britain and its American colonies and the social movements through which the thirteen colonies overcame their seemingly deep internal antagonisms. Elster documents the importance of the radical uncertainty about their opponents that characterized both British and American elites and reveals the often neglected force of enthusiasm, and of emotions more generally, in shaping beliefs and in motivating actions. He provides the first detailed examinations of "divide and rule" as a strategy used on both sides of the Atlantic and of the rise and fall of collective action movements among the Americans. Elster also explains how the gradual undermining in America of the British imperial system took its toll on transatlantic relations and describes how state governments and the American Confederation made crucial institutional decisions that informed and constrained the making of the Constitution. Drawing on a wide range of historical sources and on theories of modern social science, Elster brings together two fields of scholarship in innovative and original ways. The result is a unique synthesis that yields new insights into some of the most important events in modern history.
Asian American Players by
The player is a womanizer, a trickster, a gambler--but can Asian American men fully participate in this kind of masculinity? In Asian American Players, Audrey Wu Clark showcases how the literary figure of the Asian American player unsettles the hegemony of white American masculinity through mimicry, even as that masculinity socially and politically alienates him. She examines gendered and racialized US militarism through works written during major postmodern American wars, investigating how books by John Okada, David Henry Hwang, Chang-rae Lee, Frances Khirallah Noble, and Viet Thanh Nguyen (re)fashion Asian American masculinity in ways that ultimately mimic masculinist American foreign policy and military strategies during corresponding wars. She unearths a dual picture of Asian American players: as traces of the anxiety of America's quest for empowerment and continued military and industrial dominance in the international arena and as those tarred as inferior and disloyal outsiders within this mirrored global dominance. She thus finds new inroads into understanding US imperialism and militarism and identifies ways that key literary figures have written against insidious tropes.
Visual Learning: Physics by
Barron's new series breaks down complex science concepts into clear, captivating illustrations for the visual learner! With large, colorful graphics, including maps, diagrams, and labeled illustrations and clear supporting text, Visual Learning: Physics is an invaluable resource for readers of all ages who want to learn science in an easy and engaging way. Learn key physics topics including: Linear forces Motion Electricity Fields and forces Electromagnetism Thermodynamics Astrophysics, and much more
Biology Made Easy by
Special Launch Price This book includes over 300 illustrations to help you visualize what is necessary to understand biology at its core. Each chapter goes into depth on key topics to further your understanding of Cellular and Molecular Biology. Take a look at the table of contents: Chapter 1: What is Biology? Chapter 2: The Study of Evolution Chapter 3: What is Cell Biology? Chapter 4: Genetics and Our Genetic Blueprints Chapter 5: Getting Down with Atoms Chapter 6: How Chemical Bonds Combine Atoms Chapter 7: Water, Solutions, and Mixtures Chapter 8: Which Elements Are in Cells? Chapter 9: Macromolecules Are the "Big" Molecules in Living Things Chapter 10: Thermodynamics in Living Things Chapter 11: ATP as "Fuel" Chapter 12: Metabolism and Enzymes in the Cell Chapter 13: The Difference Between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells Chapter 14: The Structure of a Eukaryotic Cell Chapter 15: The Plasma Membrane: The Gatekeeper of the Cell Chapter 16: Diffusion and Osmosis Chapter 17: Passive and Active Transport Chapter 18: Bulk Transport of Molecules Across a Membrane Chapter 19: Cell Signaling Chapter 20: Oxidation and Reduction Chapter 21: Steps of Cellular Respiration Chapter 22: Introduction to Photosynthesis Chapter 23: Light-Dependent Reactions Chapter 24: Calvin Cycle Chapter 25: Cytoskeleton Chapter 26: How Cells Move Chapter 27: Cellular Digestion Chapter 28: What is Genetic Material? Chapter 29: The Replication of DNA Chapter 30: What is Cell Reproduction? Chapter 31: The Cell Cycle and Mitosis Chapter 32: Meiosis Chapter 33: Cell Communities Chapter 34: Central Dogma Chapter 35: Genes Make Proteins Through This Process Chapter 36: DNA Repair and Recombination Chapter 37: Gene Regulation Chapter 38: Genetic Engineering of Plants Chapter 39: Using Genetic Engineering in Animals and Humans Chapter 40: What is Gene Therapy? Discover a better way to learn through illustrations. Get Your Copy Today!
Brushed Aside by
Discover anew the herstory of art that Publishers Weekly calls "illuminating" and Foreword Reviews calls "spirited" for an enlightening art history read. How many female artists can you name? Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Marina Abramovic? How about female artists who lived prior to the Modern era? Maybe Artemisia Gentileschi and then... even a regular museum-goer might run out of steam. What about female curators, critics, patrons, collectors, muses, models and art influencers? This book provides a 360 degree look at the role, influence, and empowerment of women through art--including women artists, but going beyond those who have taken up a brush or a chisel. In 1971, Linda Nochlin published a famous essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" This book responds to it by showing that not only have there been scores of great women artists throughout history, but that great women have shaped the story of art. The result is a book that sheds light on the art world in a very new way, finally celebrating the great women artists and influencers who deserve to be much better known. The entire history of art can be told as a herstory of art.
Campus Misinformation by
An incisive examination of how pundits and politicians manufactured the campus free speech crisis--and created a genuine challenge to academic freedom in the process.If we listen to the politicians and pundits, college campuses have become fiercely ideological spaces where students unthinkingly endorse a liberal orthodoxy and forcibly silence anyone who dares to disagree. These commentators lament the demise of free speech and academic freedom. But what is really happening on college campuses?Campus Misinformation shows how misinformation about colleges and universities has proliferated in recent years, with potentially dangerous results. Popular but highly misleading claims about a so-called free speech crisis and a lack of intellectual diversity on college campuses emerged in the mid-2010s and continue to shape public discourse about higher education across party lines. Such disingenuous claims impede constructive deliberation about higher learning while normalizing suspect ideas about First Amendment freedoms and democratic participation.Taking a non-partisan approach, Bradford Vivian argues that reporting on campus culture has grossly exaggerated the importance and representativeness of a small number of isolated events; misleadingly advocated for an artificial parity between liberals and conservatives as true viewpoint diversity; mischaracterized the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces; and purposefully confused critique and protest with censorship and "cancel culture." Organizations and think tanks generate pseudoscientific data to support this discourse, then advocate for free speech in highly specific ways that actually limit speech in general. In the name of free speech and viewpoint diversity, we now see restrictions on the right to protest and laws banning certain books, theories, and subjects from schools.By deconstructing the political and rhetorical development of the free speech crisis, Vivian not only provides a powerful corrective to contemporary views of higher education, but provides a blueprint for readers to identify and challenge misleading language--and to understand the true threats to our freedoms.
Choosing to Be Simple by
Navigating the uncertainty of a divided China wracked by warfare and corruption, Tao Yuanming's poetry--expertly translated by Red Pine--chooses the path walked by China's ancient sages, finding joy in living a simple life. The latest work in Red Pine's rich career of translation, Choosing to be Simple: Collected Poems of Tao Yuanming, is a definitive portrait of the early Chinese politician and poet. Thoroughly researched and beautifully translated, this bilingual collection of over 160 verses chronicles Tao Yuanming's path from civil servant to reclusive poet during the formative Six Dynasties period (220-589). Familiar scenes like farming and contemplating the nature of work and writing are examined with intimate honesty. As Red Pine illuminates Tao Yuanming's sensitive voice, we find the poet's solace and sorrow in a China transformed by modernity. Tao Yuanming's distinct verse shows a keen attention to rhythm as he explores the tension of scarcity and indulgence, duty and escape. Reverberating with clarity and sincerity and laced with humor, the poems of Choosing to Be Simple portray a man's timeless desire to live by the principles enshrined by China's sages. Guided by Tao Yuanming's own wonderment, we, too, find ourselves asking: "Why did I ever question my heart"? We are encouraged to find joy in simplicity--the tending of a garden, the sharing of wine with a stranger.
Digital Collage with Procreate by
Digital Collage with Procreate is the ultimate guide to every step of creating beautiful, one-of-a-kind mixed media artwork. Using the versatile and intuitive iPad drawing and design app Procreate, author and artist Nicki Fitz-Gerald composes a series of fun and easy projects that will build confidence by giving all the necessary tools to create gorgeous compositions from scratch. Featuring: -Detailed information on finding materials for collages including how to collect, organize, and store images -Procreate basics and best practices including using textures, masking, blending, layering, coloring, as well as the best brushes and accessories to use -Artist profiles of other notable digital collage artists who share their tips and techniques -Step-by-step projects that showcase a range of creative approaches to collage-making, including a variety of techniques, styles, and themes to try And much, much more! Whether you want to tell a story with collage or kickstart your creativity, this book will guide you through using digital mixed-media as an expressive medium that will help develop your unique style.
Get the Picture by
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "Get the Picture is one of the funniest books I've read . . . Brilliant." --The Washington Post "A gripping and often hilarious investigation into the art world. . . . Bosker goes full Tom Wolfe." --TIME "Funny, whip-smart, and gorgeously written, Get the Picture will forever transform the way you see. . . . I loved every word." --Suleika Jaouad, New York Times bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms The New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork takes readers on another fascinating, hilarious, and revelatory journey--this time burrowing deep inside the secretive world of art and artists An award-winning journalist obsessed with obsession, Bianca Bosker's existence was upended when she wandered into the art world--and couldn't look away. Intrigued by artists who hyperventilate around their favorite colors and art fiends who max out credit cards to show hunks of metal they think can change the world, Bosker grew fixated on understanding why art matters and how she--or any of us--could engage with it more deeply. In Get the Picture, Bosker throws herself into the nerve center of art and the people who live for it: gallerists, collectors, curators, and, of course, artists themselves--the kind who work multiple jobs to afford their studios while scrabbling to get eyes on their art. As she stretches canvases until her fingers blister, talks her way into A-list parties full of billionaire collectors, has her face sat on by a nearly-naked performance artist, and forces herself to stare at a single sculpture for hours on end while working as a museum security guard, she discovers not only the inner workings of the art-canonization machine but also a more expansive way of living. Probing everything from cave paintings to Instagram, and from the science of sight to the importance of beauty as it examines art's role in our culture, our economy, and our hearts, Get the Picture is a rollicking adventure that will change the way you see forever.
Golda Meir by
A balanced biography of Golda Meir, who was both adored and abhorred, from award-winning author Deborah E. Lipstadt "Comprehensive. . . . Always thoughtful. . . . A nuanced account of a leader whose influence endures in the Middle East."--Kirkus Review Golda Meir (1898-1978) was the first and only woman to serve as prime minister of Israel. She was born in Kiev into a childhood of poverty, hunger, and antisemitism. When she was five, her father left to find work in America, and a year later the family settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a teenager she became devoted to Labor Zionism, giving street-corner speeches, and her family's home became a destination for Zionist emissaries. Her love for Labor Zionism was so fervent that her boyfriend, Morris Meyerson (her future husband), was often in competition with her dedication to the cause. Zionism prevailed. In 1921, Golda left America for Palestine with Morris and her sister Sheyna. Though the reality of living in Palestine was far from the dream of Zionism, Meir settled on the kibbutz Merhavia and was swiftly appointed to the Histadrut (the General Organization of Hebrew Workers in Palestine). As an ally of the Zionist David Ben-Gurion, Meir played an important role in the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine; proved an almost singular ability to connect and fundraise with diaspora Jewry, particularly Americans; and served in three pivotal positions following Israel's independence: labor secretary of the newly formed state, foreign minister, and Israel's fourth prime minister. In tracing the life of Golda Meir, acclaimed author Deborah E. Lipstadt explores the history of the Yishuv and Jewish state from the 1920s through the 1973 Yom Kippur War, all while highlighting the contradictions and complexities of a person who was only the third woman to serve as a head of state in the twentieth century.
Garner's the Redbook by
Since first appearing in 2002, Bryan A. Garner's legal-style manual The Redbook has established itself as the go-to source for all questions of legal writing (apart from citation form). The book isn't just the effort of a preeminent legal editor: Garner has enlisted not only his experienced team but also a group of 54 editorial advisers, most with long and valuable experience teaching LRW. The book is a one-of-a-kind resource--the legal writer's equivalent of The AP Stylebook or The Chicago Manual of Style. The brand-new fifth edition has lots of new material, including updates relating to pronoun use (especially they) and questions of unconscious bias. The two exhaustive indexes (word and subject), plus the detailed table of contents, make it easy to find authoritative guidance within seconds--whatever the question might be. The author, Bryan A. Garner, is now the most frequently cited writer in American judicial opinions. He has produced the past five editions of Black's Law Dictionary and is the coauthor of Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts (with the late Justice Antonin Scalia). He has written more than 25 books that are widely relied on as authoritative. You can rely on him, too, for the most comprehensive, nitty-gritty resource available to legal writers: The Redbook: A Manual of Legal Style. Whether you're preparing a brief, a contract, or a memo, don't circulate a draft without consulting the latest edition.
Journey to the Metaverse by
The Metaverse will be the next technological revolution. This book helps business executives to understand its foundations and reveals the new opportunities it will bring. The accessible language used to explain the complex technologies involved is key to understanding the business opportunities that the Metaverse will bring. The book follows a smooth but thorough journey along all aspects associated with the Metaverse, from augmented reality, virtual reality, digital currencies, the Internet of things, 3D glasses, and many others. This book contains trustful, actionable, and practical insight from the experience of a person highly involved in technical activities and used to speak to the board of many corporations. Reading this book, you will understand not only the drivers behind the Metaverse but also the following milestones and the roadmap we can expect: an early insight to adapt your business strategy or professional career to get the most out of this new social paradigm.
Madness by
New York Times Bestseller Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Books In the tradition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a page-turning 93-year history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the nation's last segregated asylums, that the New York Times described as "fascinating...meticulous research" and bestselling author Clint Smith endorsed it as "a book that left me breathless." On a cold day in March of 1911, officials marched twelve Black men into the heart of a forest in Maryland. Under the supervision of a doctor, the men were forced to clear the land, pour cement, lay bricks, and harvest tobacco. When construction finished, they became the first twelve patients of the state's Hospital for the Negro Insane. For centuries, Black patients have been absent from our history books. Madness transports readers behind the brick walls of a Jim Crow asylum. In Madness, Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist Antonia Hylton tells the 93-year-old history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last segregated asylums with surviving records and a campus that still stands to this day in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. She blends the intimate tales of patients and employees whose lives were shaped by Crownsville with a decade-worth of investigative research and archival documents. Madness chronicles the stories of Black families whose mental health suffered as they tried, and sometimes failed, to find safety and dignity. Hylton also grapples with her own family's experiences with mental illness, and the secrecy and shame that it reproduced for generations. As Crownsville Hospital grew from an antebellum-style work camp to a tiny city sitting on 1,500 acres, the institution became a microcosm of America's evolving battles over slavery, racial integration, and civil rights. During its peak years, the hospital's wards were overflowing with almost 2,700 patients. By the end of the 20th-century, the asylum faded from view as prisons and jails became America's new focus. In Madness, Hylton traces the legacy of slavery to the treatment of Black people's bodies and minds in our current mental healthcare system. It is a captivating and heartbreaking meditation on how America decides who is sick or criminal, and who is worthy of our care or irredeemable.
Myth America by
In this instant New York Times bestseller, America's top historians set the record straight on the most pernicious myths about our nation's past. The United States is in the grip of a crisis of bad history. Distortions of the past promoted in the conservative media have led large numbers of Americans to believe in fictions over facts, making constructive dialogue impossible and imperiling our democracy. In Myth America, Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer have assembled an all-star team of fellow historians to push back against this misinformation. The contributors debunk narratives that portray the New Deal and Great Society as failures, immigrants as hostile invaders, and feminists as anti-family warriors--among numerous other partisan lies. Based on a firm foundation of historical scholarship, their findings revitalize our understanding of American history. Replacing myths with research and reality, Myth America is essential reading amid today's heated debates about our nation's past. With Essays By Akhil Reed Amar * Kathleen Belew * Carol Anderson * Kevin Kruse * Erika Lee * Daniel Immerwahr * Elizabeth Hinton * Naomi Oreskes * Erik M. Conway * Ari Kelman * Geraldo Cadava * David A. Bell * Joshua Zeitz * Sarah Churchwell * Michael Kazin * Karen L. Cox * Eric Rauchway * Glenda Gilmore * Natalia Mehlman Petrzela * Lawrence B. Glickman * Julian E. Zelizer
Narcotopia by
The gripping true story of an indigenous people running the world's mightiest narco-state--and America's struggle to thwart them. In Asia's narcotics-producing heartland, the Wa reign supreme. They dominate the Golden Triangle, a mountainous stretch of Burma between Thailand and China. Their 30,000-strong army, wielding missiles and attack drones, makes Mexican cartels look like street gangs. Wa moguls are unrivaled in the region's $60 billion meth trade and infamous for mass-producing pink, vanilla-scented speed pills. Drugs finance Wa State, a bona fide nation with its own laws, anthems, schools, and electricity grid. Though revered by their people, Wa leaders are scorned by US policymakers as vicious "kingpins" who "poison our society for profit." In Narcotopia, award-winning journalist Patrick Winn uncovers the truth behind Asia's top drug-trafficking organization, as told by a Wa commander turned DEA informant. This gripping narrative shreds drug war myths and leads to a chilling revelation: the Wa syndicate's origins are smudged with CIA fingerprints. This is a saga of native people tapping the power of narcotics to create a nation where there was none before -- and covert US intelligence operations gone wrong.
North Woods by
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries--"a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic" (The Washington Post) from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier. "With the expansiveness and immersive feeling of two-time Booker Prize nominee David Mitchell's fiction (Cloud Atlas), the wicked creepiness of Edgar Allan Poe, and Mason's bone-deep knowledge of and appreciation for the natural world that's on par with that of Thoreau, North Woods fires on all cylinders."--San Francisco Chronicle New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, The Boston Globe, NPR, Chicago Public Library, The Star Tribune, The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, Real Simple, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Bookreporter When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave--only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we're connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we're gone?
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition by
Since its initial debut in 2015, this critically acclaimed quick-start guide to programming has taught millions of people all over the world to write clean code, solve problems, and build custom applications in the popular language of Python. The highly anticipated third edition of Python Crash Course has been completely revised with updated code, practices, and projects-making it the ultimate launchpad for beginners to start their engines and code in Python 3!
Python QuickStart Guide by
Learn Python fundamentals that can be used in any programming setting - use the guidance in this book to program your own game in a unique and practical Python learning experience.Learning Python opens the door to a world of programming possibilities. From AI and machine learning to video game, app, and web development, Python is a critical behind-the-scenes component of everyday technology. Python powers the services of household names like Google, Netflix, and Spotify along with tech pioneers like NASA, IBM, and Intel. Put simply, Python is the in-demand and easy-to-learn programming language that gets stuff done. In Python QuickStart Guide, senior developer and programmer Robert Oliver lays out the quickest and most accessible path yet to the mastery of Python fundamentals. Distilling his experience drawn from over two decades of working with Python and other programming languages, Robert's clear voice and writing present a practical, hands-on approach that anyone, at any experience level, can use to become a Python programmer. It doesn't matter if you are a new or existing programmer, a job seeker looking for a career change or promotion, or just someone who wants to learn how to automate basic tasks with Python-Robert's step-by-step approach, complete with a hands-on companion Python video game project, is the perfect starting point to master Python fundamentals! You Will Learn: - How to Use Python - Practical Examples, Code Snippets, Plus Follow Along to Code Your Own Game! - Python Fundamentals - How to Use Python for Web Design and Interfacing with GitHub, SQL, and Other Applications. - Object-Oriented Programming Principles - Managing Data, Scripts, Logic, Inputs, Outputs, and More! - Programming Essentials - Debugging, Producing Clean Code, Best Practices, Time-Savers, and Tips - Python Next Steps -Testing, Optimization, Speed Improvements, Integrations with Other Applications, and More!
Resisters by
A highly original and compelling account of individual Jews who resisted Nazi persecution, challenging the traditional portrayal of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, Holocaust category "These are the stories that longtime readers of Holocaust literature have been waiting to read: evidence of small, covert acts of resistance (often by individuals working on their own initiative) against a fanatically coordinated genocidal force."--Library Journal (starred review) Drawing on twelve years of research in dozens of archives in Austria, Germany, Israel, and the United States, this book tells the story of five Jewish people--a merchant, a homemaker, a real estate broker, and two teenagers--who bravely resisted persecution and defended themselves in Nazi Germany. These stories have not been told until now, and each case is one of many, as Gruner shows by resurfacing similar accounts of Jewish refusal to accept persecution and violence in Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1943, upending the notion of passive Jews and expanding the concept of resistance. Each individual described here represents a category of resistance: written opposition, oral protest, contesting Nazi propaganda, defiance of anti-Jewish laws and measures, and self-defense against physical attacks. Many of these courageous acts resulted in the resisters being prosecuted and put on trial, and often receiving harsh punishments, while some led to acquittal by courts and others to changes in Nazi policies. Taken together, these accounts reframe our understanding of German Jewish attitudes during the Holocaust, while also providing an astonishing examination of the complex Nazi reactions to the many individual acts of Jewish resistance.
Same Bed Different Dreams by
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice . A wild, sweeping novel that imagines an alternate secret history of Korea and the traces it leaves on the present-loaded with assassins and mad poets, RPGs and slasher films, pop bands and the perils of social media "Your view of twentieth-century history will be enlarged and altered. . . . A Gravity's Rainbow for another war, an unfinished war." -Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude ONE OF PUBLISHERS WEEKLY'S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR . FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR- The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Public Library, Polygon, Kirkus Reviews In 1919, far-flung patriots establish the Korean Provisional Government to protest the Japanese occupation of their country. This government-in-exile proves mostly symbolic, though, and after Japan's defeat in World War II, the KPG dissolves and civil war erupts, resulting in the tragic North-South split that remains today. But what if the KPG still existed-now working toward a unified Korea, secretly pulling levers to further its aims? Same Bed Different Dreams weaves together three distinct narrative voices with an archive of mysterious images, and twists reality like a kaleidoscope. Korean history, American pop culture, and our tech-fraught lives come together in this extraordinary and unforgettable novel. Soon Sheen, a former writer now employed by the tech behemoth GLOAT, comes into possession of an unfinished book seemingly authored by the KPG. The manuscript is a riveting revisionist history, connecting famous names and obscure bit players to the KPG's grand project-everyone from Syngman Rhee and architect-poet Yi Sang to Jack London and Marilyn Monroe. M*A*S*H is in here, too, as are the Moonies and a history of violence extending from the assassination of President McKinley to the Reagan-era downing of a passenger plane that puts the world on the brink of war. From the acclaimed author of Personal Days, Same Bed Different Dreams is a raucously funny feat of imagination and a thrilling meld of history and fiction that pulls readers into another dimension-one in which utopia is possible.
Seaweeds of the World by
A lavishly illustrated guide to the seaweed families of the world Seaweeds are astoundingly diverse. They're found along the shallows of beaches and have been recorded living at depths of more than 800 feet; they can be microscopic or grow into giants many meters long. They're incredibly efficient at using the materials found in the ocean and are increasingly used in the human world, in applications from food to fuel. They're beautiful, too, with their undulating shapes anchored to the sea floor or drifting on the surface. Seaweeds aren't plants: they're algae, part of a huge and largely unfamiliar group of aquatic organisms. Seaweeds of the World makes sense of their complicated world, differentiating between the three main groups--red, green, and brown--and delving into their complex reproductive systems. The result is an unprecedented, accessible, and in-depth look at a previously hidden ocean world. Features close to 250 beautiful color photos as well as diagrams and distribution maps Covers every major family and genus
Slay in Your Lane: the Black Girl Bible by
The long-awaited, inspirational guide to life for a generation of black British women inspired to make lemonade out of lemons, and find success in every area of their lives. 'This book is a gift for anyone who wants to better understand what Black women and girls are up against - and the tremendous resources they draw upon as they make their way in the world' Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org Slay In Your Lane is a brilliant book about what it is like to be a woman, black and a Londoner in 2018. Everyone should read it' Sadiq Khan 'Black women today are well past making waves - we're currently creating something of a tsunami. Women who look like us, grew up in similar places to us, talk like us, are shaping almost every sector of society.' From education to work to dating, this inspirational, honest and provocative book recognises and celebrates the strides black women have already made, while providing practical advice for those who want to do the same and forge a better, visible future. Illustrated with stories from best friends Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke's own lives, and using interviews with dozens of the most successful black women in Britain - including BAFTA Award-winning director Amma Asante, British Vogue publisher Vanessa Kingori and Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis - Slay In Your Lane is essential reading for a generation of black women inspired to find success in every area of their lives.
The Bee Sting by
One of The New York Times Top 10 Books of the Year Winner of the An Post Irish Book of the Year, the Nero Gold Prize, and the Nero Book Award for Fiction Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Writers' Prize for Fiction Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction One of The New Yorker's Essential Reads of 2023. One of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2023. One of TIME's 10 Best Fiction Books of the Year. Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, The Guardian, The Economist, New York Public Library, BBC, and more. From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart. The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under--but Dickie is spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay and half-heartedly dodging the attention of fast-talking cattle farmer Big Mike, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge drink her way through her final exams. As for twelve-year-old PJ, he's on the brink of running away. If you wanted to change this story, how far back would you have to go? To the infamous bee sting that ruined Imelda's wedding day? To the car crash one year before Cass was born? All the way back to Dickie at ten years old, standing in the summer garden with his father, learning how to be a real man? The Bee Sting, Paul Murray's exuberantly entertaining new novel, is a tour de force: a portrait of postcrash Ireland, a tragicomic family saga, and a dazzling story about the struggle to be good at the end of the world.
The Cult of Creativity by
A history of how, in the mid-twentieth century, we came to believe in the concept of creativity. Named a best book of 2023 by the New Yorker and a notable book of 2023 by Behavioral Scientist. Creativity is one of American society's signature values, but the idea that there is such a thing as "creativity"--and that it can be cultivated--is surprisingly recent, entering our everyday speech in the 1950s. As Samuel W. Franklin reveals, postwar Americans created creativity, through campaigns to define and harness the power of the individual to meet the demands of American capitalism and life under the Cold War. Creativity was championed by a cluster of professionals--psychologists, engineers, and advertising people--as a cure for the conformity and alienation they feared was stifling American ingenuity. It was touted as a force of individualism and the human spirit, a new middle-class aspiration that suited the needs of corporate America and the spirit of anticommunism. Amid increasingly rigid systems, creativity took on an air of romance; it was a more democratic quality than genius, but more rarified than mere intelligence. The term eluded clear definition, allowing all sorts of people and institutions to claim it as a solution to their problems, from corporate dullness to urban decline. Today, when creativity is constantly sought after, quantified, and maximized, Franklin's eye-opening history of the concept helps us to see what it really is, and whom it really serves.
The Heart Sutra by
For this new English translation, Red Pine, award-winning translator of Chinese poetry and religious texts, has utilised various Sanskrit and Chinese versions, refined the teachings of dozens of ancient teachers together with his own commentary to offer a profound word-for-word explication. Divided into four parts and broken into 35 lines, The Heart Sutra is a wise book of deep teaching destined to become the standard edition of this timeless statement of Mahayana truth.
The Journalist's Predicament by
Low pay. Uncertain work prospects. Diminished prestige. Why would anyone still want be a journalist? Drawing on in-depth interviews in France and the United States, Matthew Powers and Sandra Vera-Zambrano explore the ways individuals come to believe that journalism is a worthy pursuit--and how that conviction is managed and sometimes dissolves amid the profession's ongoing upheavals. For many people, journalism represents a job that is interesting and substantial, with opportunities for expression, a sense of self-fulfillment, and a connection to broader social values. By distilling complex ideas, holding the powerful to account, and revealing hidden realities, journalists play a crucial role in helping audiences make sense of the world. Experiences in the profession, though, are often far more disappointing. Many find themselves doing tasks that bear little relation to what attracted them initially or are frustrated by institutions privileging what sells over what informs. The imbalance between the profession's economic woes and its social importance threatens to erode individuals' beliefs that journalism remains a worthwhile pursuit. Powers and Vera-Zambrano emphasize that, as with many seemingly individual choices, social factors--class, gender, education, and race--shape how journalists make sense of their profession and whether or not they remain in it. An in-depth story of one profession under pressure, The Journalist's Predicament uncovers tensions that also confront other socially important jobs like teaching, nursing, and caretaking.
The New Masculinity by
From AskMen senior editor and non-binary writer Alex Manley comes The New Masculinity: A Roadmap for a 21st-Century Definition of Manhood, a guide for escaping the shackles of toxic masculinity, unlearning what it means to be a man, and pushing back against the various ways masculinity teaches people to hurt rather than help, and to harm rather than heal. Manley charts a course for a wholly new future of the self that's neither particularly manly nor particularly masculine, but responsive, invested, and caring. Having written and edited for a men's website for seven and a half years, Manley has seen up close how angry, scared, and lonely men are, and how entrenched in a culture war they feel. This book is a guide for unlearning the habits that perpetuate that harm. There are an infinite number of ways to be a person, but to access them fully, men first need to unlearn the restrictions of modern gender roles and the ways society has taught them to shave parts of themselves off until their masculinity comes before their humanity.
The Palestine Laboratory by
How Israel makes a killing from the occupation of Palestine **WINNER OF THE 2023 WALKLEY NON FICTION JOURNALISM PRIZE** **Shortlisted for the 2023 Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing** Israel's military industrial complex uses the occupied, Palestinian territories as a testing ground for weaponry and surveillance technology that they then export around the world to despots and democracies. For more than 50 years, occupation of the West Bank and Gaza has given the Israeli state invaluable experience in controlling an "enemy" population, the Palestinians. It's here that they have perfected the architecture of control. Best-selling journalist Antony Loewenstein, author of Disaster Capitalism, uncovers this largely hidden world in a global investigation with secret documents, revealing interviews and on-the-ground reporting. This book shows in-depth, for the first time, how Palestine has become the perfect laboratory for the Israeli military-techno complex: surveillance, home demolitions, indefinite incarceration and brutality to the hi-tech tools that drive the 'Start-up Nation'. From the Pegasus software that hacked Jeff Bezos' and Jamal Khashoggi's phones, the weapons sold to the Myanmar army that has murdered thousands of Rohingyas and drones used by the European Union to monitor refugees in the Mediterranean who are left to drown. Israel has become a global leader in spying technology and defence hardware that fuels the globe's most brutal conflicts. As ethno-nationalism grows in the 21st century, Israel has built the ultimate model.
The Poverty Paradox by
The paradox of poverty amidst plenty has plagued the United States throughout the 21st century--why should the wealthiest country in the world also have the highest rates of poverty among the industrialized nations? Based on his decades-long research and scholarship, one of the nation's leading authorities provides the answer. In The Poverty Paradox, Mark Robert Rank develops his unique perspective for understanding this puzzle.The approach is what he has defined over the years as structural vulnerability. Central to this new way of thinking is the distinction between those who lose out at the economic game versus why the game produces losers in the first place. Americans experiencing poverty tend to have certain characteristics placing them at a greater risk of impoverishment. Yet poverty results not from these factors, but rather from a lack of sufficient opportunities in society. In particular, the shortage of decent paying jobs and a strong safety net are paramount.Based upon this understanding, Rank goes on to detail a variety of strategies and programs to effectively alleviate poverty in the future. Implementing these policies has the added benefit of reinforcing several of the nation's most important values and principles. The Poverty Paradox represents a game changing examination of poverty and inequality. It provides the essential blueprint for finally combatting this economic injustice in the years ahead.
The Trouble with Taiwan by
Taiwan: a place with its own flag, currency, government and military, but which most of the world does not recognise as a sovereign country. An island that China regards as a 'rebellious province', but which has managed to survive defiantly for decades. Now with its neighbour China a major power on the world stage and ally United States looking increasingly inward, Taiwan's position has never been more precarious.Kerry Brown and Kalley Wu Tzu-hui reveal how the island's shifting fortunes have been shaped by centuries of conquest and by a cast of dynamic characters, by Cold War intrigue and the rise of its neighbour as a global power, explaining how this tiny island, caught between the agendas of two superpowers, is attempting to find its place in a rapidly changing world order.
To the Top by
Wall Street Journal Bestseller The Next-Generation Women Leadership Playbook In To the Top: How Women in Corporate Leadership Are Rewriting the Rules for Success, accomplished leadership advisor Jenna Fisher reveals how the world faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to close the gender gap at the top of organizations today. You'll discover how traits often held by women--including compassion, empathy, communication, mentorship, and collaboration--are now in high demand. And why, in this time of volatility and disruption, women are standing on the most solid foundation for success than ever before. Drawing on scientific research and the powerful stories of women business leaders who have already made it to the top, the book sets out how we can seize this opportunity in front of us. You'll learn: Why corporate progress for women has historically been stubbornly slow and strategies for breaking through systemic biases to take a seat at the top table Why women are particularly well-suited to lead companies through the complex challenges facing our world The specific leadership skills that are in high demand and how to develop a compassionate and commanding leadership presence The stories of women business leaders at the top of organizations today--their success, their missteps, and their lessons for success An essential and insightful treatment of women leadership in a world that desperately needs more of it, To the Top is the first book since Lean In that promises to energize and accelerate the potential of woman leaders everywhere.
Tracers in the Dark by
From the award-winning author of Sandworm comes the propulsive story of a new breed of investigators who have cracked the Bitcoin blockchain, exposing once-anonymous realms of money, drugs, and violence. "I love the book... It reads like a thriller... These stories are amazing." (Michael Lewis) Over the last decade, a single innovation has massively fueled digital black markets: cryptocurrency. Crime lords inhabiting lawless corners of the internet have operated more freely--whether in drug dealing, money laundering, or human trafficking--than their analog counterparts could have ever dreamed of. By transacting not in dollars or pounds but in currencies with anonymous ledgers, overseen by no government, beholden to no bankers, these black marketeers have sought to rob law enforcement of their chief method of cracking down on illicit finance: following the money. But what if the centerpiece of this dark economy held a secret, fatal flaw? What if their currency wasn't so cryptic after all? An investigator using the right mixture of technical wizardry, financial forensics, and old-fashioned persistence could uncover an entire world of wrongdoing. Tracers in the Dark is a story of crime and pursuit unlike any other. With unprecedented access to the major players in federal law enforcement and private industry, veteran cybersecurity reporter Andy Greenberg tells an astonishing saga of criminal empires built and destroyed. He introduces an IRS agent with a defiant streak, a Bitcoin-tracing Danish entrepreneur, and a colorful ensemble of hardboiled agents and prosecutors as they delve deep into the crypto-underworld. The result is a thrilling, globe-spanning story of dirty cops, drug bazaars, trafficking rings, and the biggest takedown of an online narcotics market in the history of the Internet. Utterly of our time, Tracers in the Dark is a cat-and-mouse story and a tale of a technological one-upmanship. Filled with canny maneuvering and shocking twists, it answers a provocative question: How would some of the world's most brazen criminals behave if they were sure they could never get caught?
UFO by
"One of the rare books on the topic that manages to be both entertaining and factually grounded." --The Wall Street Journal From the bestselling author of Raven Rock, The Only Plane in the Sky, and Watergate (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history) comes the first comprehensive and eye-opening exploration of our government's decades-long quest to solve one of humanity's greatest mysteries: Are we alone in the universe? For as long as we have looked to the skies, the question of whether life on earth is the only life to exist has been at the core of the human experience, driving scientific debate and discovery, shaping spiritual belief, and prompting existential thought across borders and generations. It's one of our culture's favorite conversations, and yet, the idea of extraterrestrial intelligence has been largely banished to the realm of fantasy and conspiracy. Now, for the first time, the full story of our national obsession with UFOs--and the covert search by scientists, the United States military, and the CIA for proof of alien life--is told by bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff in a deeply reported and researched history. It begins in 1947, when two headline-making sightings of strange flying objects prompt the US Air Force's newly formed Department of Defense to create a series of secret programs to determine how unidentified phenomena may pose a threat to national security. Over the next half-century, as the atomic age gives way to the space race and the Cold War, the mission continues, bringing together an unexpected group of astronomers, military officials, civilian contactees, and true believers who bring us closer, then further, then closer again, to answering one of our most enduring questions: What exactly is out there? Drawing from original archival research, declassified documents, and interviews with senior intelligence and military officials, Graff brings readers a story that's "Loads of fun...[a] fascinating deep dive down the rabbit hole" (Publishers Weekly).
We Are Electric by
Science journalist Sally Adee breaks open the field of bioelectricity--the electric currents that run through our bodies and every living thing--its misunderstood history, and why new discoveries will lead to new ways around antibiotic resistance, cleared arteries, and new ways to combat cancer. You may be familiar with the idea of our body's biome: the bacterial fauna that populate our gut and can so profoundly affect our health. In We Are Electric we cross into new scientific understanding: discovering your body's electrome. Every cell in our bodies--bones, skin, nerves, muscle--has a voltage, like a tiny battery. It is the reason our brain can send signals to the rest of our body, how we develop in the womb, and why our body knows to heal itself from injury. When bioelectricity goes awry, illness, deformity, and cancer can result. But if we can control or correct this bioelectricity, the implications for our health are remarkable: an undo switch for cancer that could flip malignant cells back into healthy ones; the ability to regenerate cells, organs, even limbs; to slow aging and so much more. The next scientific frontier might be decrypting the bioelectric code, much the way we did the genetic code. Yet the field is still emerging from two centuries of skepticism and entanglement with medical quackery, all stemming from an 18th-century scientific war about the nature of electricity between Luigi Galvani (father of bioelectricity, famous for shocking frogs) and Alessandro Volta (inventor of the battery). In We Are Electric, award-winning science writer Sally Adee takes readers through the thrilling history of bioelectricity and into the future: from the Victorian medical charlatans claiming to use electricity to cure everything from paralysis to diarrhea, to the advances helped along by the giant axons of squids, and finally to the brain implants and electric drugs that await us--and the moral implications therein. The bioelectric revolution starts here.
When Men Fell from the Sky by
Between 1940 and 1945, more than 100,000 airmen were shot down over Europe, a few thousand of whom survived and avoided being arrested. When Men Fell from the Sky is a comparative history of the treatment of these airmen by civilians in France, Germany and Britain. By studying the situation on the ground, Claire Andrieu shows how these encounters reshaped societies at a local level. She reveals how the fall of France in 1940 may have concealed an insurrection nipped in the bud, that the 'People's War' in Britain was not merely a myth, and that in Germany, the 'racial community of the people' had in fact become a social reality with Allied airmen increasingly subjected to lynching from 1943 onwards. By considering why the treatment of these airmen contrasted so strongly in these countries, Andrieu sheds new light on how civilians reacted when confronted with the war 'at home'.
Who Wrote This? by
Would you read this book if a computer wrote it? Would you even know? And why would it matter? Today's eerily impressive artificial intelligence writing tools present us with a crucial challenge: As writers, do we unthinkingly adopt AI's time-saving advantages or do we stop to weigh what we gain and lose when heeding its siren call? To understand how AI is redefining what it means to write and think, linguist and educator Naomi S. Baron leads us on a journey connecting the dots between human literacy and today's technology. From nineteenth-century lessons in composition, to mathematician Alan Turing's work creating a machine for deciphering war-time messages, to contemporary engines like ChatGPT, Baron gives readers a spirited overview of the emergence of both literacy and AI, and a glimpse of their possible future. As the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and fluent, it's tempting to take the easy way out and let AI do the work for us. Baron cautions that such efficiency isn't always in our interest. As AI plies us with suggestions or full-blown text, we risk losing not just our technical skills but the power of writing as a springboard for personal reflection and unique expression. Funny, informed, and conversational, Who Wrote This? urges us as individuals and as communities to make conscious choices about the extent to which we collaborate with AI. The technology is here to stay. Baron shows us how to work with AI and how to spot where it risks diminishing the valuable cognitive and social benefits of being literate.