Other books that might interest you

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  Ambush at Central Park - When...

  Mark Bulik

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  In 1922, three of the Irish Republican Army's top gunmen arrived in New York City seeking ven­geance. Their target: "Cruxy" O'Connor, a young Irishman who kept switching sides as revolution swept his country in the wake of World War I. Cruxy's last betrayal dealt a blow to Ireland's struggle for independence: six of his IRA comrades were killed when he told police the location of their safe house. A year later, the IRA gunned him down before a crowd of horrified New Yorkers. 
   
   
   
  Based primarily on first-hand accounts, most of them never before published, Ambush at Central Park is a cinematic exploration of the enigma of "Cruxy" O'Connor. 
   
   
   
  Author Mark Bulik delved through Irish government archives, newspaper accounts, census data, and unpublished material from the families of the main actors. Together they add to the story of a rebel ambush, a deadly police raid, a dinner laced with poison, a daring prison break, a boatload of tommy guns, an unlikely pair of spies who fall in love, and an assassination plot against the British cabinet. 
   
   
   
  Here is a forgotten chapter of Irish and New York history: the story of the only officially authorized IRA attack on American soil. 
   
   
   
  Contains mature themes.

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  Time of My Life The: Dirty Dancing

  Andrea Warner

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  An engaging exploration into the enduring popularity of Dirty Dancing and its lasting themes of feminism, activism, and reproductive rights 
   
  When Dirty Dancing was released in 1987, it had already been rejected by producers and distributors several times over, and expectations for the summer romance were low. But then the film, written by former dancer Eleanor Bergstein and starring Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze as a couple from two different worlds, exploded. Since then, Dirty Dancing’s popularity has never waned. The truth has always been that Dirty Dancing was never just a teen romance or a dance movie — it also explored abortion rights, class, and political activism, with a smattering of light crime-solving. 
   
  In The Time of My Life, celebrated music journalist Andrea Warner excavates the layers of Dirty Dancing, from its anachronistic, chart-topping soundtrack, to Baby and Johnny’s chemistry, to Bergstein’s political intentions, to the abortion subplot that is more relevant today than ever. The film’s remarkable longevity would never have been possible if it was just a throwaway summer fling story. It is precisely because of its themes — deeply feminist, sensitively written — that we, over 30 years later, are still holding our breath during that last, exhilarating lift.

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  Draft to Diamond: How to Polish...

  Billy Grady

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  A rough draft is just the beginning. The true magic of writing happens in the polish—where every sentence shines, every scene connects, and every word earns its place. In Draft to Diamond, acclaimed writing coach Billy Grady reveals the insider strategies that turn raw pages into a publish-ready masterpiece. 
  Inside, you’ll learn how to: 
  Edit with precision to eliminate clutter and sharpen your voice 
  Strengthen structure for pacing that keeps readers hooked 
  Refine dialogue and description until every line sparkles 
  Spot—and fix—the hidden flaws agents and editors notice first 
  Packed with practical checklists, proven techniques, and confidence-boosting guidance, Draft to Diamond is the essential toolkit for any writer ready to take their manuscript from rough to remarkable. 
  Your story deserves to shine. 
  This is how you make it brilliant.

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  Carbon Democracy - Political...

  Timothy Mitchell

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  Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption, and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. 
   
   
   
  Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible to reorganize political life around the management of something now called "the economy". The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. 
   
   
   
  In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy—the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fueled collapse of the ecological order.

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  Tocharians The: The Enigmatic...

  Editors Charles River

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  Located in the Tarim Basin of Asia during the first few centuries CE, a people and a kingdom grew to prominence in medieval central and east Asian geopolitics. The people are known today as the Tocharians, and their primary kingdom was Kucha, but despite their longevity, this incredible kingdom and its people have been overlooked and misunderstood by modern societies and historians for centuries. The lack of in-depth studies on the Tocharians largely stems from the fact that they are relatively newcomers to the modern academic scene - it was only in the late 19th century that historians identified them as a distinct ethnic group, and even today, philologists, historians, and archaeologists still have much to uncover about these enigmatic people and their kingdom. A potential early misidentification caused much of this confusion, yet scholars were also left wondering how the Tocharians came to occupy the Tarim Basin, which was perhaps based on the biases of 19th century historians. What has been uncovered so far is truly fascinating and important in the larger picture of Asian and Indo-European history. 
  When scholars first discovered the Tocharians in the late 19th century, they were amazed that Caucasian people who spoke an Indo-European language flourished so far away from the Indo-European homeland and other Indo-European peoples. Scholars immediately developed several theories to explain this apparent anomaly: some were quite logical and formed the basis for current models, while others were quickly and rightfully forgotten. An examination of the textual, archaeological, and art history sources reveals that the Tocharians played a major impact in the affairs of East and Central Asia, indirectly through their predecessors and their descendants, but also directly through trade, diplomacy, and most of all, religion. 

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  Ten Things Your Student with...

  Ellen Notbohm

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  The essential autism spectrum guidebook for teachers everywhere! 
   
  In this exciting companion to Ellen Notbohm’s beloved classic Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew, the unique perspective of an autistic child’s voice returns to describe for teachers, in the classroom and in the larger  
  community, how to understand thinking and processing patterns common in autism, how to shape an environment conducive to their learning style, and how to communicate with autistic learners of all ages in functional, meaningful ways.  
   
  It’s the guidebook every educator and family member, worldwide, needs to create effective and inclusive settings wherein child and adult are both teachers and learners. 
   
  This vibrantly updated and expanded edition includes an imaginative, all-new guide adaptable for group discussion, self-reflection, or self-expression, added perspective from autistic adults about their experiences in education, and an  
  afterword by Bryce Notbohm. Perennially popular since 2006 and translated into multiple languages, Ten Things Your Student with Autism Wishes You Knew now brings fresh perspective to a new generation of educators and autistic learners.

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