On September 11, 2011, the world will be watching astheNational September 11 Memorialopens on the site of the WorldTrade Center. With photographs and architectural plans never beforepublished, paired with comments in the very voices of those whowitnessed the event, those who struggled in its shadow for days andmonths after, and those who have dedicated the years since torebuilding a place of hope and meditation at Ground Zero, this bookwill stand apart from all the reston the tenth anniversary of thatworld-changing event. Heavily illustrated and elegantly designed,the book recalls the excitement and symbolism of the Twin Towers,the horror and chaos of the attack of 9/11, the fierce devotion andexhaustion as rescue of living victims became recovery of remains.But it also carries on from that date in history to tell the insidestory of the long, complex, and sometimes contentious efforts toturn eight acres of Downtown Manhattan into a lasting memorial tothose lost in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon.
Kindred spirits despite their profound differences inposition, Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman shared a vision of thedemocratic character. They had read or listened to each other’swords at crucial turning points in their lives, and both wereutterly transformed by the tragedy of the Civil War. In thisradiant book, poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein tracks theparallel lives of these two titans from the day that Lincoln firstread Leaves of Grass to the elegy Whitman composed after Lincoln’sassassination in 1865. Drawing on a rich trove of personal and newspaper accounts anddiary records, Epstein shows how the influence and reverence flowedbetween these two men–and brings to life the many friends andcontacts they shared. Epstein has written a masterful portrait oftwo great American figures and the era they shaped through wordsand deeds.
On August 28, 1963, over a quarter-million people—two-thirdsblack and one-third white—held the greatest civil rightsdemonstration ever. In this major reinterpretation of the GreatDay—the peak of the movement—Charles Euchner brings back thetension and promise of the march. Building on countless interviews,archives, FBI files, and private recordings, this hour-by-houraccount offers intimate glimpses into the lives of those keyplayers and ordinary people who converged on the National Mall tofight for civil rights in the March on Washington.
“Kirstin Downey’s lively, substantive and—dare I say—inspiringnew biography of Perkins . . . not only illuminates Perkins’ careerbut also deepens the known contradictions of Roosevelt’scharacter.” —Maureen Corrigan, NPR Fresh Air One of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s closest friends and the firstfemale secretary of labor, Perkins capitalized on the president’spolitical savvy and popularity to enact most of the Depression-eraprograms that are today considered essential parts of the country’ssocial safety network. Frances Perkins is no longer a household name, yet she was one ofthe most influential women of the twentieth century. Based on eightyears of research, extensive archival materials, new documents, andexclusive access to Perkins’s family members and friends, thisbiography is the first complete portrait of a devoted publicservant with a passionate personal life, a mother who changed thelandscape of American business and society. Frances Perkins was named Secr
They would be called upon to lead a nation in one of its darkest hous-but were they up to the task? He had been the wild, hard-drinding scion of one of America's premier political families. She was the school librarian with a warm smile and a tracks of September 11. 2001, they rose to the challenge: He became the embodiment of America's fighting spirit and she assumed the role of "Fighting spirit and she assumed the role of "First Comforter" with effortless grace. Still. the true nature fo their relationship has remained a mytery. Until now. In the style fo his#1 new Yourk Times bestseller The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died, as Well as his bestselling books about another President and First Lady, Jack and Jackie and Jackie After Jacks, Christopher Andersen draws on important sources-many speaking here for the first time-to paint a vivid, sometimes startling, often inspiring portrait of America's First Couple. Among the intriguing insights and stunning revelations: Important new information abou
Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful and popularAmerican presidents. The key to understanding his political successand the remarkable likability and effortless charisma that made itpossible is hidden in his early years as a Hollywood moviestar. Other biographers and Reagan in his two memoirs have skimmed overthe thirty years he spent as an actor, union activist, and ladies’man. Now, for the first time, in this highly entertaining andprovocative new work, acclaimed film critic and historian MarcEliot reveals the truth of those formative years and presents a fardifferent and infinitely more detailed portrait of Reagan than everbefore. Based on original research and never-before-published interviews,documents, and other materials, Eliot sheds new light on Reagan’sfilm and television work opposite some of the most talented womenof the time, including Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and GingerRogers; his starlet-strewn bachelor days when his name was linkedwith Lana Turner and Susan Hayward
(Presidio Books) A pocket-sized guide to being a good leader,for non-commissioned officers (NCOs). Discusses US Army values in'user-friendly' terms, from the perspective of a former member ofthe NCO core. Introduces three different types of leadership stylesfor 3-meter, 50-meter, and 100-meter soldiers. Softcover. DLC:United States Army--Non commissioned officers' handbooks.
Following on the success of their recent collaboration DearMr. President, Dwight Young and Margaret Johnson join forces onceagain to produce this charming collection of correspondence to andfrom First Ladies during their time in office. A wonderful giftbook for any American, Dear First Lady reminds us that ours is agreat government "of the people, by the people, and for thepeople," which entitles us to make our views known to our leaders.Although some of these missives were written by the famous or theinfamous, most are from ordinary Americans who wished to connectwith their First Lady. Amusing, appealling, heartbreaking, andheartwarming, the letters appear as full-size facsimiles whereverpossible so readers can see for themselves the substance and styleof these intriguing exchanges. Dwight Young annotates each letter with biographical andhistorical stories that illuminate the context and provide broaderinsights into the public and private lives of presidents’ wives.Richly illustrated with arch
The ideas of US Air Force Colonel John Boyd have transformedAmerican military policy and practice. A first-rate fighter pilotand a self-taught scholar, he wrote the first manual on jet aerialcombat; spearheaded the design of both of the Air Force's premierfighters, the F-15 and the F-16; and shaped the tactics that savedlives during the Vietnam War and the strategies that won the GulfWar. Many of America's best-known military and political leadersconsulted Boyd on matters of technology, strategy, andtheory. In The Mind of War, Grant T. Hammond offers the first completeportrait of John Boyd, his groundbreaking ideas, and his enduringlegacy. Based on extensive interviews with Boyd and those who knewhim as well as on a close analysis of Boyd's briefings, thisintellectual biography brings the work of an extraordinary thinkerto a broader public.
Voices in Our Blood is a literary anthology of the mostimportant and artful interpretations of the civil rights movement,past and present. It showcases what forty of the nation's bestwriters — including Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison,William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Alice Walker, Robert Penn Warren,Eudora Welty, and Richard Wright — had to say about the centraldomestic drama of the American Century. Editor Jon Meacham has chosen pieces by journalists, novelists,historians, and artists, bringing together a wide range of blackand white perspectives and experiences. The result is anunprecedented and powerful portrait of the movement's spirit andstruggle, told through voices that resonate with passion andstrength. Maya Angelou takes us on a poignant journey back to her childhoodin the Arkansas of the 1930s. On the front page of The New YorkTimes , James Reston marks the movement's apex as he describes whatit was like to watch Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver his heralded"I Hav
During the civil rights movement, epic battles for justicewere fought in the streets, at lunch counters, and in theclassrooms of the American South. Just as many battles were waged,however, in the hearts and minds of ordinary white southernerswhose world became unrecognizable to them. Jason Sokol’s vivid andunprecedented account of white southerners’ attitudes and actions,related in their own words, reveals in a new light thecontradictory mixture of stubborn resistance and pragmaticacceptance–as well as the startling and unexpected personaltransformations–with which they greeted the enforcement of legalequality.
The political memoiras rousing adventure story—a sizzling account of a life lived inthe thick of every important struggle of the era. April 1973: snow falls thick and fast on the Badlands ofSouth Dakota. It has been more than five weeks since protestingSioux Indians seized their historic village of Wounded Knee, andthe FBI shows no signs of abandoning its siege. When Bill Zimmermanis asked to coordinate an airlift of desperately needed food andmedical supplies, he cannot refuse; flying through gunfire and amechanical malfunction, he carries out a daring dawn raid andsuccess?0?2fully parachutes 1,500 pounds of food into the village.The drop breaks the FBI siege, and assures an Indian victory. This was not the first—or last—time Bill Zimmerman put his life atrisk for the greater social good. In this extraordi?0?2nary memoir,Zimmerman takes us into the hearts and minds of those making thesocial revolution of the sixties. He writes about registering blackvoters in deepest, most racist Mississippi; marc
For more than a half-century, Israel has been forced to defendits existence against international political disapproval, racistcalumny, and violence visited upon its citizens by terrorists ofmany stripes. While nations have always been made to defend theirmoral, political, economic, or social actions, Israel has theunique plight of having to defend its very right to exist. Covering Israel's struggle for existence from the Britishoccupation and the UN’s partition of Palestine, to the dashed hopesof the Oslo Accords and the second intifada, Yaacov Lozowick trainsan enlightening, forthright eye on Israel’s strengths and failures.A lifelong liberal and peace activist, he explores Israel’snational and regional political, social, and moral obligations aswell as its right to secure its borders and repel attacks bothphilosophical and military. Combining rich historical perspectiveand passionate conviction, Right to Exist sets forth theagenda of a people and a nation, and elegantly articulates Isra
A blistering journalistic exposé: an account of governmentnegligence, corporate malfeasance, familial struggle, drugs,politics, murder, and a daring rescue operation in the Colombianjungle. On July 2, 2008, when three American private contractors andColombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt were rescuedafter being held for more than five years by the RevolutionaryArmed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the world was captivated by theirpersonal narratives. But between the headlines a major story waslost: Who exactly are the FARC? How had a drug-funded revolutionaryarmy managed to hold so many hostages for so long? Had our costlyWar on Drugs failed completely? Hostage Nation answers thesequestions by exploring the complex and corrupt political andsocioeconomic situations that enabled the FARC to gainunprecedented strength, influence, and impunity. It takes us behindthe news stories to profile a young revolutionary in the making, anelite Colombian banker-turned-guerrilla and the hard-drivenAmeric
This lecture explores the limits of politics in three senses:as a subject of study at Cambridge, as an academic discipline, andas a practical activity. Politics did not develop as an independentacademic subject in Cambridge in the twentieth century, and onlynow is this situation being rectified with the creation of the newDepartment of Politics and International Studies. Politics as anacademic discipline was once conceived as the master science. Morerecently it has become much more limited in its scope and itsmethods, but it still needs to preserve a tradition of politicalreasoning which focuses on problems rather than methodology, and isconcerned with understanding the limits to politics. The limits ofpolitics as a practical activity are explored through four modes ofpolitical reasoning: the sceptical, the idealist, the rationalistand the realist, as exemplified by the writings of Oakeshott,Keynes, Hayek, and Carr.