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  Dinner in Camelot - The Night...

  Joseph A. Esposito

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  In April 1962, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy hosted forty-nine Nobel Prize winners—along with many other prominent scientists, artists, and writers—at a famed White House dinner. Among the guests were J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was officially welcomed back to Washington after a stint in the political wilderness; Linus Pauling, who had picketed the White House that very afternoon; William and Rose Styron, who began a fifty-year friendship with the Kennedy family that night; James Baldwin, who would later discuss civil rights with Attorney General Robert Kennedy; Mary Welsh Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's widow, who sat next to the president and grilled him on Cuba policy; John Glenn, who had recently orbited the earth aboard Friendship 7; historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., who argued with Ava Pauling at dinner; and many others. Actor Frederic March gave a public recitation after the meal, including some unpublished work of Hemingway's that later became part of Islands in the Stream. Held at the height of the Cold War, the dinner symbolizes a time when intellectuals were esteemed, divergent viewpoints could be respectfully discussed at the highest level, and the great minds of an age might all dine together in the rarefied glamour of "the people's house."

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  The Shriver Report - A Woman's...

  Maria Shriver, Progress The...

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  Facts, figures, and essays on women and poverty by Barbara Ehrenreich, Kirsten Gillibrand, LeBron James, and other high-profile contributors.   Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a War on Poverty and enlisted Sargent Shriver to oversee it, the most important social issue of our day is once again the dire economic straits of millions of Americans. One in three live in poverty or teeter on the brink—and seventy million are women and the children who depend on them.   The fragile economic status of millions of American women is the shameful secret of the modern era—yet these women are also our greatest hope for change, and our nation’s greatest undervalued asset. The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink asks—and answers—big questions. Why are millions of women financially vulnerable when others have made such great progress? Why are millions of women struggling to make ends meet even though they are hard at work? What is it about our nation—government, business, family, and even women themselves—that drives women to the financial brink? And what is at stake?   To forge a path forward, this book brings together a power-packed roster of big thinkers and talented contributors, in a volume that combines academic research, personal reflections, authentic photojournalism, groundbreaking poll results, and insights from frontline workers; political, religious, and business leaders; and major celebrities—all focused on a single issue of national importance: women and the economy.   “A startling wake-up call for policymakers and anyone hoping to survive a culture that siphons wealth upward to a very powerful few.” —Booklist  Contributors include: Carol Gilligan, PhD * Barbara Ehrenreich * Beyoncé Knowles-Carter * LeBron James * Anne-Marie Slaughter * Kirsten Gillibrand * Hillary Rodham Clinton * Tory Burch * Sister Joan Chittister * Arne Duncan * Kathleen Sibelius * Howard Schultz * and more!

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  My Tour through the Asylum - A...

  William E. Dufford, Aïda Rogers,...

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  “[A] testament to his journey toward South Carolina’s—not only desegregation of schools—but full integration and voice for African American students.” —Libby Bernardin, author of Stones Ripe for Sowing 
   
  Immortalized in the writings of his most famous student, bestselling author Pat Conroy, veteran education administrator William E. Dufford has led an inspirational life as a stalwart champion for social justice and equal access for all to the empowerment of a good public education. A quintessential Southern storyteller now in his nineties, Dufford reflects on his own transformation through education, from his upbringing in the segregationist Jim Crow Era-South of the 1930s and 1940s to becoming an accomplished integrationist revered by his pantheon of former colleagues and students. In My Tour through the Asylum, several of these supporters share their own candid recollections of Dufford alongside his life story, adding context and anecdotes to the narrative. 
   
  Dufford credits the evolution of his mindset from segregationist to integrationist to the good influence of two experiences: his service in the US Navy in the 1940s opening his eyes to a larger worldview and his later doctoral training at the University of Florida under nationally recognized professors introducing him to global perspectives of education. 
   
  Drawing the book title and themes from nineteenth-century statesman James Louis Petigru’s infamous assessment that South Carolina was “too small to be a republic and too big to be an insane asylum,” Dufford offers an insightful, pragmatic, and ultimately hopeful tour through his lived experiences in the courageous, committed service of education and enlightenment. 
   
  “William Dufford’s memoir is a remarkable example of courage, passion, and determination.” —Peggy B. Winder, Newberry College

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  How to Be a Government Whip

  Helen Jones

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  One of the most misunderstood and oft-caricatured jobs in British politics whips are the unseen unsung heroes of the parliamentary system without whom governments would doubtless crumble and legislative business would almost certainly grind to a halt. Whips are shrouded in mystery however often portrayed in the media and by colleagues as a brutish bullying bunch of thugs with a reputation for using blackmail and torture to achieve party discipline and get legislation through the House.
  
  How to Be a Government Whip is a frank and light-hearted guide to the forgotten engine room of Parliament perfect for those who aspire to be amongst their ranks as well as those just hoping to avoid them. From the mind-numbing tedium of debates to the dark arts of dealing with rebellious or disaffected members of their 'flock' former whip Helen Jones reveals how they really get business done - and what they say about their colleagues behind the closed door of the Whips' Office.

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  America's Forgotten Terrorists -...

  Jeffrey D. Simon

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  Though largely forgotten today, one of the most destructive terrorist groups in the United States was the Galleanists, a fiery band of Italian anarchists active during the early 1900s. In America's Forgotten Terrorists, Jeffrey D. Simon shows how alienation and frustration among segments of a community were transformed into a militant extremist movement.Luigi Galleani, a gifted writer and speaker, tapped into widespread disappointment among Italian immigrants concerning their lives in America. Unemployment, low wages, long working hours, discrimination, and a poor quality of life made many Italian immigrants receptive to his words. The Galleanists introduced terrorist tactics and strategies that are still used today: they were the first group to send package bombs across the country and to exploit the media for their own advantage.The story of the Galleanists is a chilling journey through a volatile period in American history, including labor-management conflicts, World War I, and the Red Scare. An expert in terrorism, Simon offers striking insights into the Galleanist era and some of its eerie connections to modern America, calling us to recognize the risks of repeating our history. How the Galleanists operated and how the U.S. government responded hold lessons for today as we continue to deal with the threat of terrorism.

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  Black Consciousness - A Love Story

  Hlumelo Biko

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  'If Steve Biko were alive today, we would have a country that gladly embraces African culture as the dominant driving force for how society is organised ...'
  In 1968, two young medical students, Steve Biko and Mamphela Ramphele, fell in love while dreaming of a life free from oppression and racial discrimination. Their love story is also the story of the founding of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) by a group of 15 principled and ambitious students at the University of Natal in Durban in the early 1970s.
  In this deeply personal book, Hlumelo Biko, who was born of Steve and Mamphela's union, movingly recounts his parents' love story and how the BCM's message of black self-love and self-reliance helped to change the course of South African history.
  Based on interviews with some of the BCM's founding members, Black Consciousness describes the early years of the movement in vivid detail and sets out its guiding principles around a positive black identity, black theology and the practice of Ubuntu through community-based programmes.
  In spiritual conversation with his father, Hlumelo re-examines what it takes to live a Black Consciousness life in today's South Africa. He also explains why he believes his father – who was brutally murdered by the apartheid police in 1977 – would have supported true radical economic transformation if he were alive today.

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