Other books that might interest you

• 

  Skiing into the Bright Open - My...

  Liv Arnesen, Ann Bancroft

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In Skiing into the Bright Open Liv Arnesen describes the exhausting, exhilarating experience of being the first known woman to ski unsupported to the South Pole.From her childhood in Norway to the seasons she spent working as a guide on Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, Arnesen courted the cold, and her memoir reflects the knowledge and passion for Arctic and Antarctic exploration that grew with her adventures in the wintry reaches of Norway and beyond. Tracing her path from the heroic stories of explorers like Fridtjof Nansen and Ernest Shackleton to her own crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap in 1992, Arnesen credits the inspiring feats of those who preceded her but also describes the obstacles—including niggling self-doubt—that tradition, convention, and downright prejudice put in her way as she endeavored to find the support and sponsorship granted to men in her field.A tale of solitary adventure in the bleak and beautiful bone-chilling cold of Antarctica, Skiing into the Bright Open tells a story of gritty determination, thrilling achievement, and perseverance in the face of near despair and daunting odds; it is, ultimately, an object lesson in the power of a dream if one is willing to pursue it to the ends of the earth.

  Show book

• 

  Towards a Political Economy of...

  Marko Bojcun

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The essays in this book explore the major developments, both domestic and international, that shaped the first quarter-century of Ukraine’s independence: the simultaneous construction of a nation-state and the privatization of its economy; a formal democratization of the political process alongside the capture of state institutions by big business oligarchs; their efforts to gain social acceptance at home while maneuvering between competing Russian, EU, and American projects to hegemonize the region; the impact of the financial crises of 1997 and 2008 on Ukrainian society and the national economy’s place in the world market; the growing inequality of society, the mass revolts in 2004 and 2014 against corruption and injustice; and the beginning of Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

  Show book

• 

  Six Creepy Cat Tales

  Barry Pain, William J. Wintle,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Six creepy horror stories of sinister, murderous and ghostly cats.    'The White Cat' by Hugh Walpole    'The Cat' by E. F. Benson    'The Cats of Ulthar' by H. P. Lovecraft    'The Black Cat' by William James Wintle    'The Grey Cat' by Barry Pain    'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe

  Show book

• 

  Bernardine's Shanghai Salon -...

  Susan Blumberg-Kason

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only thirty-three years old, she found herself in a time and place like no other. Political intrigue and scandal lurked on every street corner. Art Deco cinemas showed the latest Hollywood flicks, while dancehall owners and jazz musicians turned Shanghai into Asia's top nightlife destination.Yet from the night of their wedding, Bernardine's new husband did not live up to his promises. Instead of feeling sorry for herself or leaving Shanghai, Bernardine decided to make a place for herself. Like other Jewish women before her, she started a salon in her home, drawing famous names from the world of politics, the arts, and the intelligentsia. And when Hollywood stars Anna May Wong, Charlie Chaplin, and Claudette Colbert passed through Shanghai, Bernardine organized gatherings to introduce them to their Shanghai contemporaries.When Bernardine's salon could not accommodate all who wanted to attend, she founded the International Arts Theater to produce avant-garde plays, ballets, lectures, and visual arts exhibits, often pushing audiences beyond their comfort zones. As civil war brewed and World War II soon followed, Bernardine's devotion to the arts and the people of Shanghai brought joy to the city just before it would change forever.

  Show book

• 

  The Last of the 39-ers - The...

  Sean Feast

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The story of the RAF pilot and POW shot down in 1939—including his role in the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III—is told in this intimate WWII biography. While on a reconnaissance sortie over Germany in 1939, Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Alfie Fripp was shot down by the Luftwaffe and taken prisoner. The longest-serving British prisoner of war, he was also the last of the surviving “39-ers” when he died in 2012. His wartime years were spent in numerous camps, including the infamous Stalag Luft III, where he took an active role in the prison break immortalized by the film The Great Escape. Fripp also served during the interwar period and returned to service after being released in 1945. Before he died, Fripp, began working with aviation historian Sean Feast on his memoirs. Feast has now combined copious research with Fripp’s candid account and personal photographs to produce this lively and authoritative biography.

  Show book

• 

  Fighting for General Lee -...

  Sheridan R. Barringer

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A remarkable biography of a Confederate brigadier general’s experiences during—and after—the Civil War: “Well-written and deeply researched” (Eric J. Wittenberg, author of Out Flew the Sabers).   Rufus Barringer fought on horseback through most of the Civil War with General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, and rose to lead the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade in some of the war’s most difficult combats. This book details his entire history for the first time.   Barringer raised a company early in the war and fought with the 1st North Carolina Cavalry from the Virginia peninsula through Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He was severely wounded at Brandy Station, and as a result missed the remainder of the Gettysburg Campaign, returning to his regiment in mid-October, 1863.   Within three months he was a lieutenant colonel, and by June 1864 a brigadier general in command of the North Carolina Brigade, which fought the rest of the war with Lee and was nearly destroyed during the retreat from Richmond in 1865. The captured Barringer met President Lincoln at City Point; endured prison; and after the war did everything he could to convince North Carolinians to accept Reconstruction and heal the wounds of war.   Drawing upon a wide array of newspapers, diaries, letters, and previously unpublished family documents and photographs, as well as other firsthand accounts, this is an in-depth, colorful, and balanced portrait of an overlooked Southern cavalry commander. It is easy today to paint all who wore Confederate gray with a broad brush because they fought on the side to preserve slavery—but this biography reveals a man who wielded the sword and then promptly sheathed it to follow a bolder vision, proving to be a champion of newly freed slaves—a Southern gentleman decades ahead of his time.

  Show book