Other books that might interest you

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  The Great Great Wall - Along the...

  Ian Volner

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  “Timely and highly readable . . . provides a valuable backdrop to Donald Trump’s insistence on a barrier across America’s southern border.” —Robert Dallek, presidential historian 
   
  During his campaign for the presidency, one of Donald Trump’s signature promises was that he would build a “great great wall” on the border between the US and Mexico, and Mexico was going to pay for it. Now, with only a few prototype segments erected, the wall is the 2,000-mile, multibillion-dollar elephant in the room of contemporary American life. 
   
  In The Great Great Wall, architectural historian and critic Ian Volner takes a fascinating look at the barriers that we have built over millennia. Traveling far afield, to China, the Middle East, Europe, and along the U.S. Mexico border, Volner examines famous, contentious, and illuminating structures, and explores key questions: Why do we build walls? What do they reveal about human history? What happens after they go up? With special attention to Trump’s wall and the walls that exist along the US border already, this is an absorbing, smart, and timely book on an incredibly contentious and newsworthy topic. 
   
  “A work of literary alchemy that transmutes the wall, a simple architectural structure, and of late, political metaphor, into a prism through which to view the panorama of human history . . . this book will amaze, delight, and enchant even the most jaded nonfiction aficionado.” —William J. Bernstein, award-winning author of The Delusions of Crowds 
   
  “A global journey to some of history’s most significant walls—China, Berlin, and even Jericho—weaving together a fascinating account of their foundational myths and current realities.” —Carrie Gibson, author of El Norte

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  Miscellaneous Pieces

  John Bunyan

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  John Bunyan (November 28, 1628 – August 31, 1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory. In the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August. Bunyan became a popular preacher as well as a prolific author, though most of his works consist of expanded sermons. In theology he was a Puritan, but there was nothing gloomy about him. The portrait his friend Robert White drew, which has often been reproduced, shows the attractiveness of his true character. (Summary from Wikipedia)

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  A Pure Solar World - Sun Ra and...

  Paul Youngquist

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  “Youngquist brings considerable skills to the life and work of the legendary but underappreciated and often misunderstood composer, keyboardist, and poet.” —PopMatters    Sun Ra said he came from Saturn. Known on earth for his inventive music and extravagant stage shows, he pioneered free-form improvisation in an ensemble setting with the devoted band he called the “Arkestra.” Sun Ra took jazz from the inner city to outer space, infusing traditional swing with far-out harmonies, rhythms, and sounds. Described as the father of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra created “space music” as a means of building a better future for American blacks here on earth.   In A Pure Solar World: Sun Ra and the Birth of Afrofuturism, Paul Youngquist explores and assesses Sun Ra’s wide-ranging creative output—music, public preaching, graphic design, film and stage performance, and poetry—and connects his diverse undertakings to the culture and politics of his times, including the space race, the rise of technocracy, the civil rights movement, and even space-age bachelor-pad music. By thoroughly examining the astro-black mythology that Sun Ra espoused, Youngquist masterfully demonstrates that he offered both a holistic response to a planet desperately in need of new visions and vibrations and a new kind of political activism that used popular culture to advance social change. In a nation obsessed with space and confused about race, Sun Ra aimed not just at assimilation for the socially disfranchised but even more at a wholesale transformation of American society and a more creative, egalitarian world.  “A welcome invitation to the spaceways.” —Jazzwise

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  Drama Games for Exploring...

  Alanna Beeken, Foundation Coram...

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  This dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book, part of the bestselling Drama Games series, offers dozens of games to help bring Shakespeare's plays to life in the classroom or rehearsal room – making them fun and accessible to actors, students, directors and teachers.
  Inspired by the work of leading cultural education charity Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation, this book offers a wide range of activities to tackle every aspect of the plays, including:
  - Warm-ups and General Games to establish an atmosphere of focus, connection, support and fun – all the conditions you need for a successful session
  - Story and World-building to explore the events, environments and societies of Shakespeare's plays
  - Introducing Shakespeare's Language to break down the text and allow participants to uncover the meaning through play and creative discovery
  - Activating Shakespeare's Language to liberate actors from the script through movement and voice-work
  - Character to help develop compelling, believable performances by investigating motivations and relationships, circumstances and emotions
  - Staging to help empower every member of the ensemble in moments that might be challenging to stage – such as big movement sequences, fights and battles and intimate love scenes
  Whatever your reason for exploring Shakespeare – whether you're directing a production, teaching a set text, or introducing his work to young people for the first time – this essential resource will give you the tools you need to demystify the language, take ownership of the plays, and find a connection to the words that resonates in our own time.
  'This wonderful book will be an invaluable resource for anyone approaching the teaching or directing of Shakespeare, whether novice or veteran' Paterson Joseph, from his Foreword

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  Picture Perfect Vacation

  Joanna Jarc Robinson

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  Vacations are so much fun! Follow along as a young boy takes pictures as he travels to his aunt Roxie's cottage at the lake. How will they get there? What will they see along the way? Who will be there when they arrive? What will they do during the day and at night? Upbeat music and fun sound effects help tell the adorable story of “Picture Perfect Vacation.” Parents and kids alike will be dreaming and planning for their next vacation!

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  Sundaland and Doggerland: The...

  Charles River Editors

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  By the time the Pleistocene Epoch ended around 12,000 years ago, Homo sapiens had become one of the most significant species on the planet. 	It was also near the end of that period of time that modern humans began to gradually populate what would become Europe, Asia, and the Americas, eventually becoming the inheritors of the Paleolithic era and the only human species to make it into the Neolithic era. 	The cold Pleistocene temperatures lowered water levels across the planet, exposing land that was not there before or after the period. At the same time, significant regions of the planet were very different during the Pleistocene, including Southeast Asia, particularly the modern islands of Bali, Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, roughly equivalent to parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This region, which modern scholars refer to as Sunda or Sundaland, was unique because all of it was connected by land, meaning today’s islands were once part of a contiguous subcontinent, and in terms of the people, flora, and fauna, it was very different than it is today.  
  Among the most significant water displacement phenomena in the Western world was Doggerland on the northern European continent. The notable inundation occurred in both a steady and eruptive fashion covering a vast stretch of former tundra, a land bridge between today’s British Isles and the European continent. The event brought about the modern English Channel and an expanded North Sea, and unlike the early supercontinents, the inundation of Doggerland took place after the appearance of people. Incrementally submerged since roughly 18,000 years ago as the climate warmed, the patch of sea between Britain and Europe is the subject of much recent scientific scrutiny. 

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