Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Savage and civilized - Darwin...

  Héctor Palma

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  On a sunny January morning in 1833, through one of the Southern Channels of Tierra del Fuego, a British vessel sails alongside a smaller boat. The natives of the area, through screams and smoke, quickly communicate with each other the novelty, and dozens of canoes with hundreds of natives emerge to observe the peculiar event. Curious and friendly for the most part, somewhat aggressive at times, they observe the smallest boat approaching the shore with three Fuegians (two men and one woman) returning to their homeland after almost a year in London. To the surprise of their compatriots, who receive them almost naked, these three Fuegians dressed in European clothes, with short hair, speak English and they bring with them porcelain tea sets, bed linens, hats and dresses. This unique scene is only a small part of a larger story that was headed to oblivion at that hostile Southern tip of South America, except for the fact that it was part of extensive passages in the journey diaries of the two British protagonists of the same story: the expedition captain Robert Fitz Roy and the naturalist on board, and eventually one of the most influential scientists in the modern world, Charles Darwin. But in addition to those direct testimonies, a more or less standard version has been installed, restated time after time for almost two centuries; with a series of assumptions and errors that deserve to be reviewed and reassessed. The aim of this book is to reconstruct this story and, above all, review it from a critical perspective.

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  Surviving Deep Waters - A...

  Bruce Johnson

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  When you have nothing to lose, you can risk everything.There was no reason to bet on Bruce Johnson, given where he started out. Poor, Black, and raised by a single mother who had a secret. He was the child she hid in plain view from the rest of her family.Bruce would spend his youth at Chickasaw Park in Louisville—Kentucky’s segregated west end. He would grab the low hanging tree branches, then swing out over the Ohio River before dropping into the dangerous water below. He didn’t know how to swim, but was fearless and knew to paddle quickly back to shore before the current could drag him under. This tenacity served him well, and he learned to be a risk taker early on.As an adult, he set out to just make a living—to do better than Black folks who tried their best before, while making his Momma and Grandmomma proud. His journey to becoming a successful TV journalist nearly killed him, but he refused to treat himself as a victim. His role was to use his voice and example to pull others out of deep waters.The rollout for his retirement was unprecedented. Week-long on-air tributes, hour-long online tributes from corporate CEOs, former colleagues, Congressmembers, the Mayor, and the governor. After a near forty-five year career, all was deserved and expected, except for a final tribute—seeing his image secretly painted on the Wall of Fame outside the iconic Ben’s Chili Bowl restaurant alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Dave Chappelle. No one could have imagined such an ending. Or could they? Bruce Johnson’s journey is the culmination of his mother and grandmother’s stories—the ultimate American story of race, opportunity, and perseverance.

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  The Sword and the Shield - The...

  Christopher Andrew, Vasili...

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  As chief archivist of the KGB’s foreign branch, Vasili Mitrokhin had virtually unfettered access to its most closely held secrets. But his government’s relentless repression of dissidents at home and abroad and its bungled Afghan war policy disillusioned him. Determined to preserve the truth, Mitrokhin secretly compiled a detailed record of the feared agency’s operations abroad. 
  Written with historian Christopher Andrew and backed with meticulous supporting research, what emerges is a chilling chronicle of murder and treachery, slander and corruption, paranoia and purges. KGB placed agents high within British intelligence agencies and American defense contractors; yet they failed to discredit Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, Senator Scoop Jackson or President Ronald Reagan. And their massive information gathering brought them no international advantages; to the end Soviet officials remained baffled by the West. The Sword and the Shield is a compelling—and historically significant—narrative destined to cast new light on the Soviet era.

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  First In: The Airborne...

  Ron Kent

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  The First World War as a living history is to all intents and purposes over.  As of today February 2005, there are only twelve veterans from six million alive who served on the Western Front.  Richard has spent the last 20 years interviewing and carefully recording the memories of over 270 veterans and this book is a culmination of his 20 years of work.The book will be an extraordinary collection of stories told by the veterans themselves but also through the author's memories of them: the remarkable, the sad, the funny, the moving.  It will also feature an outstanding collection of photographs taken of the veterans as they were, as soldiers during the war together with recent images of almost all of these men, taken at home, back on the Western Front, at the final veterans' reunion, and at various investitures. Britain's Last Tommies will also offer a unique list of veterans, all of who individually hold the poignant title of being the last Gallipoli veteran, the last Royal Flying Corps veteran, the last Distinguished Conduct Medal holder, the last cavalryman, the last Prisoner of War.

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  A Patriot's Calling - Folds of...

  Lt Colonel Dan Rooney

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  A decorated fighter pilot and PGA professional tells the story of his life and service—to both his nation and others—in this remarkable memoir that is a stirring record of faith, patriotism, family, philanthropy, and golf. 
   
  What does it mean to be a patriot? For Oklahoma native Dan Rooney, it is someone who not only puts his life on the line for country, but who opens his heart and mind and seeks to build a life that embodies the purest and most concentrated essence of himself. For many, Rooney is the model of a patriot: as an Air Force pilot who deployed to Iraq, serving three tours of duty; as a professional golfer who established a nonprofit foundation awarding thousands of scholarships to the children of fallen and disabled veterans; as the father of five daughters; as a man of faith, whose copilot, both in the skies and on the ground, has always been God.  
  A Patriot’s Calling is his autobiographical journey through some of the most character-defining moments of his awe-inducing life and career. “On my third tour of duty in Iraq as F -16 fighter pilot, I felt a powerful calling from God to share the miraculous fusion of people and experiences uniquely placed along my journey. During my reflection, I began to understand how the forces of synchronicity had shaped my life. Synchronicity, or, as I like to call it, ‘chance with a purpose,’ is all around us. These encounters with God’s messengers are the sign-posts along the road of life guiding us toward our essence.” A Patriot’s Calling illuminates Rooney’s true essence—and offers guidance and inspiration for us all.  
   

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  Loss of Eden - A Biography of...

  Joyce Milton

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  For the first time, Joyce Milton gives us the dual biography of the wonder couple, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Their love prevailed against a horrifying kidnapping and murder splashed throughout the media, their careers, and even the criticism they underwent following their involvement in the America First movement as the United States entered World War II. With new information presented about their son’s kidnapper, Bruno Hauptmann, and Charlie’s own role in the case, Milton gives her readers a lot to think about. Thoroughly researched, Milton exposes a new understanding of and view into the personalities and lives of Charles, Anne, and the time they lived in.

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