Other books that might interest you

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  Captive Queen - The Decrypted...

  Jade Scott

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  An expert historian on Mary, Queen of Scots draws on hundreds of her encrypted letters to paint a vivid portrait of one of history's most compelling figures. 
   
   
   
  For almost two decades before her execution at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was a prisoner. From her chambers, she wrote countless letters, many encrypted using complex ciphers to prevent her communications from being intercepted. In this way, she used language to exert her will and her influence, even while incarcerated. 
   
   
   
  More than four hundred years after Mary's death, the discovery of further encoded letters has led to renewed interest in the breadth of her correspondence while in captivity. 
   
   
   
  In Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots, Jade Scott draws on hundreds of these ground-breaking letters to create a vivid picture of one of history's most fascinating personalities. She interprets Mary's complex relationships with friends and enemies alike throughout the years of her imprisonment, illuminating Mary's strategic vision while bringing her captivity to life like never before.

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  The Amateur Hour - A History of...

  Jonathan Zimmerman

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  American college teaching is in crisis, or so we are told. But we've heard that complaint for the past 150 years, as critics have denounced the poor quality of instruction in undergraduate classrooms. Students daydream in gigantic lecture halls while a professor drones on, or they meet with a teaching assistant for an hour of aimless discussion. The modern university does not reward teaching, so faculty members at every level neglect it in favor of research and publication. In the first book-length history of American college teaching, Jonathan Zimmerman confirms but also contradicts these perennial complaints. Drawing upon a wide range of previously unexamined sources, The Amateur Hour shows how generations of undergraduates indicted the weak instruction they received. But Zimmerman also chronicles institutional efforts to improve it, especially by making teaching more "personal." As higher education grew into a gigantic industry, he writes, American colleges and universities introduced small-group activities and other reforms designed to counter the anonymity of mass instruction. They also experimented with new technologies like television and computers, which promised to "personalize" teaching by tailoring it to the individual interests and abilities of each student.But, Zimmerman reveals, the emphasis on the personal inhibited the professionalization of college teaching, which remains, ultimately, an amateur enterprise. The more that Americans treated teaching as a highly personal endeavor, dependent on the idiosyncrasies of the instructor, the less they could develop shared standards for it. Nor have they rigorously documented college instruction, a highly public activity which has taken place mostly in private. Pushing open the classroom door, The Amateur Hour illuminates American college teaching and frames a fresh case for restoring intimate learning communities, especially for America's least privileged students. Anyone who wants to change college teaching will have to start here.

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  Decolonizing Language and Other...

  Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

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  Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o was a towering figure in African literature, and his novels A Grain of Wheat; Weep Not, Child; and Petals of Blood are modern classics. Emerging from a literary scene that flourished in the 1950s and '60s during the last years of colonialism in Africa, he became known not just as a novelist—one who, in the late '70s, famously stopped writing novels in English and turned to the language he grew up speaking, Gĩkũyũ—but as a major postcolonial theorist. 
   
   
    
  In Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas, Ngũgĩ gives us a series of essays that build on the revolutionary ideas about language and its constructive role in national culture, history, and identity that he set out in his earlier work. 
   
   
    
  Intricate and deeply nuanced, this collection examines the enduring power of African languages in resisting both the psychic and material impacts of colonialism, past and present. 
   
   
    
  A brave call for discourse and immensely relevant to our present moment, Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas works both as a wonderful introduction to the enduring themes of Ngũgĩ's work as well as a vital addition to the library of the world's greatest and most provocative writers.

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  Infinite World of Vision: Life...

  Annalisa Been, Cerys Stewart,...

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  This project brings together stories from young people in the United Kingdom living with vision impairments, highlighting their experiences and challenges in transitioning through key life stages. Supported by the University of Bath and funded by Guide Dogs, the project was initiated by Dr. Karin Petrini and Dr. Michael Proulx, alongside Dr. Aikaterini Tavoulari, who brought both clinical and academic expertise.  
  The team collaborated with a diverse group of young people from across the UK, some with additional disabilities, who acted as co-researchers and played a key role in shaping the project's direction. After ten months of collaboration, they decided to create an audiobook, also available in print, to share their stories with a wide audience, including individuals with vision impairments, healthcare professionals, universities, and other stakeholders. 
  The audiobook features powerful, personal accounts of navigating life transitions, such as moving from childhood to adulthood, relocating to a new country, and transitioning to independent living. The stories highlight both the barriers these individuals faced and the support systems and tools that helped them overcome challenges.  
  Ultimately, the project aims to inspire, educate, and connect people, offering insights that could help others facing similar life transitions, while fostering greater understanding for those who engage with individuals with vision impairments.

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  Vaccines and Bayonets - Fighting...

  Bee Bloeser

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  Step into the heart of a turbulent era with a gripping historical memoir that chronicles one woman’s extraordinary journey in Africa. In this vivid recounting—which one Pulitzer nominee says, “reads like a political thriller, women’s history, and African adventure rolled into one,”—Bee Bloeser unveils the raw reality of her family’s part in the mission to eradicate smallpox, revealing triumphs and trials faced along the way. 
  As a young wife with two young children, Bloeser follows her husband, Carl, to Africa, driven by ideals and a sense of duty. In Nigeria she witnesses the roots and ravages of civil war and the horrors of smallpox and leprosy, yet finds beauty in the vibrant local culture. 
  In Equatorial Guinea, a nation newly independent but plagued by the terror of a brutal dictatorship, secrecy shrouds the people, and Bloeser confronts a world far removed from her idealistic expectations. Forbidden from interacting with locals and surrounded by oppression and suspicion, she documents her experiences in hidden notes, capturing the essence of a desperate struggle. 
  Through her eyes, readers experience the intense battle against a relentless virus and against tyranny. This Amazon #1 Bestselling memoir is a story of medical triumph but also a poignant reflection on humanity’s capacity for courage—the indomitable spirit of those who risk everything for a better future.

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  Anglo-Saxons and the Jutes The:...

  Editors Charles River

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  As the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century, Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned and Roman control of the area broke down.  
  Little is known of this period of British history, but soon the Anglo-Saxons – who had been harassing the Saxon Shore as pirates – showed up and began to settle the land, creating a patchwork of little kingdoms and starting a new era of British history. Several early medieval historians, writing well after the events, said the Anglo-Saxons were invited to Britain to defend the region from the northern tribes and ended up taking over. However they came to control most of England, the Anglo-Saxons became the dominant power in the region for nearly 500 years, and the strength of their cultural influence could be felt even after William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings and became the first Norman ruler on the island. The efforts to consolidate his rule in England were complicated from the start, both due to external enemies and those jockeying for his position while he was still alive, but the Normans would manage just barely to cling to power over England, and William remains the last foreign conqueror of the island.  
  The Jutes were so closely related to the Angles and Saxons that the nature of their existence has been, and continues to be, the subject of scholarly debates. Although historians and archaeologists have identified a Germanic tribe known as the Jutes that migrated to England at the same time as the Angles and Saxons, the attempt to distinguish them from the other tribes has been questioned. Either way, once the Jutes landed in England, they immediately distinguished themselves from the Angles and Saxons by carving out kingdoms in the regions of Kent and the Isle of Wight. From these two locations, the Jutes not only carried on many of their pre-migration cultural traditions but also adopted some of the new, unifying European traditions, particularly Christianity.

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