Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Joan Crawford and Bette Davis:...

  Editors Charles River

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  The life of Joan Crawford is one of the most famous Hollywood rags-to-riches tales. While it is common to think of Hollywood as a land offering great opportunity to hard-working actresses, the Horatio Alger myth rarely applies in reality, but it applied almost perfectly to Joan Crawford. Crawford grew up in relative poverty, with both of her childhood father figures abandoning the family before she became a teenager, and she relied on undying ambition in order to progress through the ranks of the show business circuit and then the Hollywood studio system. This drive to succeed continued throughout her entire career, and Crawford’s public battles with both studios (MGM in particular) and other stars (first Norma Shearer and later Bette Davis) were borne out of an unmatched competitive streak. Joan Crawford’s life and career also shed light on the treatment of women in pop culture and in cinema during the early 20th century.  
  	Bette Davis presided over Hollywood at a time in which the film industry was at its most influential. Every actress from Katharine Hepburn to Ingrid Bergman and Ginger Rodgers, themselves now considered among Hollywood’s greatest icons, lived in the shadow of Bette Davis. Not only was Davis a box office sensation and commercial success - she became the highest paid actress in 1938 - but she garnered more critical acclaim than any other actress during the time period, as evidenced by the fact that she was the first actress to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards.  Recently, her place in history was cemented when she was named as the second greatest actress of the 20th century by the American Film Institute behind only Katharine Hepburn (AFI 100 Years…100 Stars).

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  Colombia's Economic...

  Anya Solace

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  Colombia's economic transformation has been a complex and dynamic process shaped by historical events, political decisions, and global economic trends. From its early indigenous trade systems to its current standing as one of Latin America's largest economies, Colombia's journey has been marked by periods of growth, crisis, and resilience. Understanding this transformation requires a deep dive into the key factors that have influenced its economy over the centuries. 
  The foundation of Colombia's economy was laid long before Spanish colonization. Indigenous communities engaged in agriculture, trade, and resource management, establishing early economic structures. However, the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century drastically altered the economic landscape. The Spanish introduced a mercantilist system that prioritized resource extraction, particularly gold, and forced indigenous labor into exploitative economic activities. This period also saw the beginnings of agricultural exports, as crops like sugar and tobacco became integral to the colonial economy. 
  Following independence in 1810, Colombia faced significant economic instability. The transition from colonial rule to a sovereign state disrupted established trade networks and led to political fragmentation. Wars of independence had devastated infrastructure and financial systems, leaving the new republic struggling to establish a stable economy. The 19th century saw slow economic progress, with regional economies developing independently and a reliance on agriculture persisting. Coffee emerged as Colombia's most valuable export by the late 19th century, setting the stage for greater economic integration and growth.

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  Dickensland - The Curious...

  Lee Jackson

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  The intriguing history of Dickens's London, showing how tourists have reimagined and reinvented the Dickensian metropolis for more than 150 years 
   
   
    
  Tourists have sought out the landmarks, streets, and alleys of Charles Dickens's London ever since the death of the world-renowned author. Late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with tracking down the locations—dubbed "Dickensland"—that famously featured in his novels. But his fans were faced with a city that was undergoing rapid redevelopment, where literary shrines were far from sacred. Over the following century, sites connected with Dickens were demolished, relocated, and reimagined. 
   
   
    
  Lee Jackson traces the fascinating history of Dickensian tourism, exploring both real Victorian London and a fictional city shaped by fandom, tourism, and heritage entrepreneurs. Beginning with the late nineteenth century, Jackson investigates key sites of literary pilgrimage and their relationship with Dickens and his work, revealing hidden, reinvented, and even faked locations. From vanishing coaching inns to submerged riverside stairs, hidden burial grounds to apocryphal shops, Dickensland charts the curious history of an imaginary world.

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  The Snake Has All the Lines

  Jean Kerr

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  The #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies offers another hilarious look at home life, show business, and more. Jean Kerr played many roles in her life, from exasperated mother to Broadway playwright and keen observer of mid-twentieth century suburbia. She also became one of America’s most beloved humorists by sharing her insights and anecdotes in a series of popular newspaper columns. In The Snake Has All the Lines, Kerr explores topics ranging from family vacations and modern convenience to the trials and tribulations of opening a new play. With her inimitable wit, she reminds us that while life may be a day at the beach, a day at the beach with small children can have you questioning your life choices in no time.

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  The Murder of Maggie Hume - Cold...

  Blaine L. Pardoe, Victoria Hester

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  One brutal murder. Two possible suspects. And a "fascinating . . . puzzling case" that divided a Michigan community (Lansing State Journal). 
   
   
    
  In the summer of 1982, the body of twenty-year-old Maggie Hume was found under a pile of blankets in the closet of her apartment. A Catholic school girl and daughter of a local football coach, Maggie had been raped and strangled. It was the only active murder investigation in Battle Creek, Michigan, suggesting the case would be an easy victory for authorities. Plus, they already had two persons of interest on watch. 
   
   
    
  Maggie's neighbor, Michael Ronning, confessed to the crime. Yet it was Maggie's boyfriend, Jay Carter, who failed the polygraph, and whose account of his whereabouts on the night of the murder kept changing. Unfortunately, the Calhoun County Prosecutor's Office and Battle Creek Police Department couldn't agree on whom to charge. And the city soon took sides. 
   
   
    
  Cracking open three decades of never-before-seen evidence, this real-life whodunit exposes the dark secrets and tragic infighting that turned the murder of Maggie Hume into an unwinnable contest of wills, egos, politics, and the law—a contest that, to this day, isn't over.

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  The Burger Chef Murders in Indiana

  Julie Young

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  The evening of November 17, 1978, should have been like any other for the four young crewmembers closing the Burger Chef at 5725 Crawfordsville Road in Speedway, Indiana. After serving customers and locking the doors for the night, the kids began their regular cleanup to ready the restaurant for the following day. But then something went horribly wrong. Just before midnight, someone muscled into the place, robbed the store of $581 and kidnapped the four employees. Over the next two days, investigators searched in vain for the missing crewmembers before their bodies were discovered more than twenty miles away. The killer or killers were never caught. Join Julie Young on an exploration of one of the most baffling cold cases in Indiana history.

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