Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Harperism - How Stephen Harper...

  Donald Gutstein

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  “This was a great compliment to Party of One (Michael Harris)” – “This is an important book!”Margaret (Maggie) Thatcher, the Iron Lady, and her neo-conservative philosophy transformed British political life forever. Actor turned politician Ronald Reagan, selling “trickle down” economics, did the same to political life in the United States. In Harperism, Donald Gutstein details how Stephen Harper accomplished a similar dramatic shift to the right and a introduced a new kind of politics in Canada. It’s key tenets include:Canada’s economic prosperity is strengthened when labour is weak–especially when unions disappearPublic policy making is improved by cutting government scientific research and data collectionConverting First Nations reserves to private property improves the conditions of life for aboriginal peoplesInequality of incomes and wealth is a good thing–and Canada needs more of itThese and other central ideas that make-up Harperism flow from the neo-liberal economic theories of Austrian economist Friedrich von Hayek and his disciples in the U.S.A and inspired Reaganism and Thatcherism.In Canada, Stephen Harper has managed to take neo-liberalism much further in several key areas. As Donald Gutstein details, Harper has accomplished this using a successful strategy of incremental change coupled with denial of the underlying neo-liberal analysis that explains these hard-to-understand measures.Harperism’s success is no accident. Donald Gutstein documents the connections between the think tanks, politicians, journalists, academics and researchers who nurture and promote each other’s neo-liberal ideas. They are funded by ultra-rich U.S. donors, Canadian billionaires like Peter Munk, and many large corporations–all of whom gain from the ideas and policies developed and pushed by Harperites.This book sheds new light on the last decade of Canadian politics, and it documents the challenges that Harperism–with or without Stephen Harper–will continue to present to the many Canadians who do not share this pro-market world view.

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  Sealand - The True Story of the...

  Dylan Taylor-Lehman

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  A “thoroughly researched, stranger-than-fiction” history of the world’s tiniest rebel nation, filled with intrigue, armed battles, and radio pirates (Robert Jobson, author of Prince Philip’s Century).   In 1967, a retired army major and self-made millionaire named Paddy Roy Bates cemented his family’s place in history when he inaugurated himself ruler of the Principality of Sealand, a tiny dominion of the high seas. And so began the peculiar story of the world’s most stubborn micronation on a World War II anti-aircraft gun platform off the British coast.  Sealand is the raucous tale of how a rogue adventurer seized the disused Maunsell Sea Fort from pirate radio broadcasters, settled his eccentric family on it, and defended their tiny kingdom from UK government officials and armed mercenaries for half a century. Incorporating original interviews with surviving Sealand royals, Dylan Taylor-Lehman recounts the battles and schemes as Roy and his crew engaged with diplomats, entertained purveyors of pirate radio and TV, and even thwarted an attempted coup that saw the Prince Regent taken hostage. Incredibly, more than fifty years later, the self-proclaimed independent nation still stands—replete with its own constitution, national flag and anthem, currency, and passports.   Featuring rare vintage photographs of the Bates clan and their unusual enterprises, this account of a dissident family and their outrageous attempt to build a sovereign kingdom on an isolated platform in shark-infested waters is the stuff of legend.   “Memorable . . . This idiosyncratic history entertains.” ―Publishers Weekly   “Endlessly captivating, like a thriller, and filled with crisp, evocative writing. Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’m visiting the principality to become an official ‘Lord of Sealand.’” ―Bob Batchelor, author of The Bourbon King

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  The Bond - Our Kinship with...

  Wayne Pacelle

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  “If the animals knew about this book they would, without doubt, confer on Wayne Pacelle, their highest honor.”—Jane Goodall“The Bond is the best overall book on animals I have ever read. Brilliant and moving.”—John Mackey, CEO and Co-founder of Whole Foods Market“The Bond is at once heart-breaking and heart-warming. No animal escapes Wayne Pacelle’s attention; nor should his book escape any human animal’s attention.”—Alexandra Horowitz, New York Times Bestselling Author of Inside of a Dog The president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest animal protection organization, Wayne Pacelle brings us The Bond, a heartfelt, eye-opening exploration of the special bond between animals and humans. With the poignant insight of Animals Make Us Human and the shocking reality of Fast Food Nation—filled with history, valuable insights, and fascinating stories of the author’s experience in the field—The Bond is an important investigation into all the ways we can repair our broken bond with the animal kingdom and a thrilling chronicle of one man’s extraordinary contribution to that effort.

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  The Legendary 'Lugs Branigan' –...

  Kevin C. Kearns

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  Garda and guardian. Protector and punisher. This is 'Lugs' Branigan: the man, the legend.
  
  The story of 'Lugs' Branigan is a tale that is long overdue. It is a story of extraordinary courage and compassion, a story of heroism and altruism, a story of crime, punishment and redemption. The legend of 'Lugs''s career as Ireland's most famous garda (police officer), founded on his physical strength and the manner in which he faced up to the criminal gangs of Dublin over the course of fifty years, is part of Dublin's folk history.
  
  In The Legendary 'Lugs' Branigan, bestselling historian Kevin C. Kearns presents a revealing and unvarnished portrait of the man and his life, authenticated by the oral testimony of family members, friends and Garda mates who stood with him through the most harrowing and poignant experiences.
  
  Born in the Liberties of Dublin in 1910, Jim Branigan was, by his own admission, a shy, scrawny 'sissy' as a lad. Cruelly beaten by bullies in the railway yard where he worked during his teens, he refused to fight back. Yet he went on to become a heavyweight boxing champion and to earn the 'undisputed reputation as the country's toughest and bravest garda'. Chief Superintendent Edmund Doherty proclaimed him 'one of those people who become a legend in his own time'.
  
  As a garda he refused to carry a baton, relying upon his fists. He took on the vicious 'animal gangs' of the 1930s and 40s and in the 'Battle of Baldoyle' broke their reign of terror. In the 1950s he quelled the wild 'rock-and-roll riots' and tamed the ruffian Teddy boys with their flick-knives. All the while, he was dealing with Dublin's full array of gurriers and criminals.
  
  As a devotee of American Western films and books, Branigan emulated the sheriffs by doling out his unique 'showdown' brand of summary justice to hooligans and thugs on the street. In the 1960s his riot squad with its Garda 'posse' patrolled Dublin's roughest districts in their 'black Maria'. They contended with the most dangerous rows and riots in the streets, dancehalls and pubs. The cry 'Lugs is here!' could instantly scatter a disorderly crowd.
  
  Ironically, for all his fame as a tough, fearless garda, he was most beloved for his humanity and compassion. His role as guardian of the battered women of the tenements and as protector and father figure of the city's piteous prostitutes—or 'pavement hostesses', as he called them—was unrecorded in the press and hushed up by the Garda brass. Yet, Garda John Collins vouches, 'Women … oh, he was God to them!' Upon retirement he entered his 'old gunfighter' years; ageing and vulnerable, he became a target for old foes bent on revenge and for 'young guns' seeking a quick reputation.
  
  A man with a reputation powerful enough to echo through generations of Dubliners, the legendary 'Lugs' Branigan finally has a book worthy of his story.

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  Word for Word - A Translator's...

  Lilianna Lungina

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  A remarkable memoir of living in the Soviet Union and working as a literary translator.   In the early twentieth century, Lilianna Lungina was a Russian Jew born to privilege, spending her childhood in Germany, France, and Palestine. But when she was thirteen, her parents moved to the USSR—where Lungina became witness to many of the era’s greatest upheavals.   Exiled during World War II, dragged to KGB headquarters to report on her friends, and subjected to her new country’s ruthless, systematic anti-Semitism, Lungina nonetheless carved out a career as a translator, introducing hundreds of thousands of Soviet readers to Knut Hamsun, August Strindberg, and, most famously, Astrid Lindgren. In the process, she found herself at the very center of Soviet cultural life, meeting and befriending Pasternak, Brodsky, Solzhenitsyn, and many other major literary figures of the era. Her extraordinary memoir—at once heartfelt and unsentimental—is an unparalleled tribute to a lost world.

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  The Last Best Hope - The...

  Ronald Reagan

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  From the time he arrived on the political scene in 1964 - throughout his presidency and beyond, Ronald Reagan - used his speeches to inspire and reinvigorate America. When he spoke, Reagan, said, he was preaching a sermon. The American people saw his vision of America and his dreams for the future and they overwhelmingly responded; he was re-elected in 1984 by the largest number of electoral votes in the nation's history. Here in this collection of twenty-eight speeches spanning the Reagan era, readers can find inspiration in Reagan's sermons. Ronald Regan's words show a profound belief in God, freedom, individualism, limited government, and his great love for his country.

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