Other books that might interest you

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  The Reveries of the Solitary Walker

  Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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  The Reveries of the Solitary Walker was one of the last works written by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and was, in fact, not quite complete. It was published four years after his death and came quickly to be regarded as one of his most poetic works. 
   
  It consists of 10 Walks (only the final ‘Walk’ was unfinished) during which he muses on a variety of topics including thoughts on issues which featured strongly in his notable life as a philosopher and commentator, including education and political philosophy. However, interwoven into the reflective narrative are personal observations and memories—some painful, concerning times when he felt attacked and severely criticised for his writings. There are also comments on nature particularly the plants he encounters which, placing the writer in the countryside, balances the darker inner musings. This puts the tone beyond nostalgia, and if there is undoubtedly a feeling of resignation, the essays emanate a sense of end-of-life understanding and acceptance. 
   
  The First Walk sets the scene: “BEHOLD me then as if alone upon the earth, having neither brother, relative, friend or society but my own thoughts; the most social and affectionate of men proscribed as it were by unanimous consent. They have sought in the refinement of their hatred what would be the most cruel torment to my susceptible soul and have rent asunder every bond which attached me to them. I should have loved mankind in spite of themselves and it was only by throwing off humanity that they could avoid my affection. At length, then, behold them strangers, unknown, as indifferent to me as they desired to be; but thus detached from mankind, and everything that relates to them, what am I? This remains to be sought. Unhappily the search must be preceded by casting a glance on my own situation, since I must necessarily pass through this examination, in order to judge between them and myself.” 
   
  Matthew Lloyd Davies reads the first translation into English which appeared in 1796, less than 20 years after Rousseau’s death.

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  Blacksound - Making Race and...

  Matthew D. Morrison

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  A new concept for understanding the history of the American popular music industry. 
   
   
    
  Blacksound explores the sonic history of blackface minstrelsy and the racial foundations of American musical culture from the early 1800s through the turn of the twentieth century. With this namesake book, Matthew D. Morrison develops the concept of "Blacksound" to uncover how the popular music industry and popular entertainment in general in the United States arose out of slavery and blackface. 
   
   
    
  Blacksound as an idea is not the music or sounds produced by Black Americans but instead the material and fleeting remnants of their sounds and performances that have been co-opted and amalgamated into popular music. Morrison unpacks the relationship between performance, racial identity, and intellectual property to reveal how blackface minstrelsy scripts became absorbed into commercial entertainment through an unequal system of intellectual property and copyright laws. By introducing this foundational new concept in musicology, Blacksound highlights what is politically at stake—for creators and audiences alike—in revisiting the long history of American popular music.

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  3 Stories About - Fairy Tales...

  Hans Christian Andersen, Oscar...

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  There is something about the number 3.    
   
  The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two.   
   
  Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois.  It seems good things usually come in threes. 
   
  Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating. 
   
  From their pens to your your ears.

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  No Greater Love - The Story of...

  Kevin Ferris, John A. Siegfried

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  The story of Philadelphia's only Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War told here for the first timeMichael Crescenz grew up in one of Philadelphia’s booming post-war Catholic neighborhoods, distinguishing himself early on as a leader, brother and friend who fearlessly rose to the defense of others in need. The second of six sons born to a World War II veteran, Michael was known for his big smile, athletic abilities, toughness and fierce competitive spirit. Growing up, Michael’s world revolved around his family, parish, local playgrounds, and the bustling Catholic schools he attended from first grade through high school graduation. All these influences shaped the man he would become – the one who felt a sense of duty to serve his country and enlisted in the U.S. Army to do his part during the Vietnam War.   He was in Vietnam barely two months when his unit, the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, was sent into battle against deeply entrenched enemy forces on Nui Chom Mountain, the fortress in the clouds tucked away in the far northwest corner of South Vietnam near the borders with North Vietnam and Laos. Commanders knew they were in for a fight, but didn’t know the enemy had more than 250 machine gun bunkers deployed along the mountain’s slopes. On November 20, 1968, Alpha Company was ambushed on the wet jungle mountainside, the NVA taking down the two men up front and pinning down the rest with relentless fire.  Thinking first of the danger to those around him, Private First Class Michael J. Crescenz picked up an M60 machine gun and charged the enemy bunkers. He did not survive but his actions saved the lives of his fellow soldiers and allowed them to advance and ultimately prevail. For his valor and sacrifice, Michael was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.  No Greater Love tells this story from the perspective of those who loved Michael Crescenz most, close friends, family, Michael’s commanding officer in Vietnam, retired Lieutenant General Sam Wetzel, and medic William “Doc” Stafford, the soldier closest to Michael when he was cut down by enemy fire and who believes to this day that he survived Nui Chom only because of the selfless actions of Private First Class Crescenz.

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  George Washington's Rules of...

  George Washington

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  George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation is a collection of 110 maxims on etiquette and personal conduct, originally written by Washington as a young man. These concise yet profound rules offer insight into the values of respect, humility, and self-discipline that shaped Washington’s character and leadership. Also included is his first inaugural address, a foundational document that reflects the guiding principles of the early American republic. Together, these texts provide a window into the mindset of one of history’s most influential leaders and highlight the timeless importance of civility and moral conduct.

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  My Russian Grandmother and Her...

  Meir Shalev

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  From the author of the acclaimed novel A Pigeon and a Boy comes a charming tale of family ties, over-the-top housekeeping, and the sport of storytelling in Nahalal, the village of Meir Shalev's birth. Here we meet Shalev's amazing Grandma Tonia, who arrived in Palestine by boat from Russia in 1923 and lived in a constant state of battle with what she viewed as the family's biggest enemy in their new land: dirt. 
   
   
    
  Hilarious and touching, Grandma Tonia and her regulations come richly to life in a narrative that circles around the arrival into the family's dusty agricultural midst of the big, shiny American sweeper sent as a gift by Great-uncle Yeshayahu. America, to little Meir and to his forebears, was a land of hedonism and enchanting progress. The sweeper, a stealth weapon from Grandpa Aharon's American brother meant to beguile the hardworking socialist household with a bit of American ease, was symbolic of the conflicts and visions of the family in every respect. 
   
   
    
  The fate of Tonia's "svieeperrr"—hidden away for decades in a spotless closed-off bathroom after its initial use—is a family mystery that Shalev determines to solve. The result is pure delight, as Shalev brings to life the obsessive but loving Tonia, the pioneers who gave his childhood its spirit of wonder, and the grit and humor of people building ever-new lives.

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