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  Classic Short Stories - Volume...

  Edith Nesbit, Stacy Aumonier,...

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  Stories are one of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements.  Whether written down or spoken they have an ability to capture our imagination and thoughts, and take us on incredible journeys in the space of a phrase and the turn of a page. 
   
  Within a few words of text or speech, new worlds and characters form, propelling a narrative to a conclusion with intricate ease. Finely crafted, perfectly formed these Miniature Masterpieces, at first thought, seem remarkably easy to conjure up. But ask any writer and they will tell you that distilling the essence of narrative and characters into a short story is one of the hardest acts of their literary craft.  Many attempt, but few achieve.

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  The White Sniper - Simo Häyhä

  Tapio A. M. Saarelainen

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  The remarkable story of the Finnish marksman nicknamed “White Death” by the Red Army for his record number of confirmed kills.   Simo Häyhä is the most famous sniper in the world. During the Winter War fought between Russia and Finland from 1939 to 1940, he had 542 confirmed kills with iron sights, a record that still stands today.   A man of action who spoke very little, Simo Häyhä was hugely respected by his men and his superiors and given many difficult missions, including taking out specific targets. Able to move silently and swiftly through the landscape, melting into the snowbound surroundings in his white camouflage fatigues, his aim was deadly and his quarry rarely escaped. The Russians learned of his reputation as a marksman and tried several times to kill him by indirect fire. He was promoted from corporal to second lieutenant, and he was awarded the Cross of Kollaa. For sniping, Simo Häyhä only ever used his own M/28-30 rifle. Eventually, his luck ran out, and Simo received a serious head wound on March 6,1940, though he subsequently recovered.  The White Sniper fully explores Simo Häyhä’s life, his exploits in the Winter War, the secrets behind his success, including character and technique, and also includes a detailed look at his rifle itself. There are appendices on the basics of shooting, the impact of fire on the battlefield, battles on the Kollaa Front during the Winter War, and a list of ranked snipers of the world.   “No matter how many books on sniping you have read, this must be added to your list if you are serious about shooting.” —GunMart

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  Essays in Aesthetics

  Jean-Paul Sartre

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  Renowned French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre references artists such as Tintoretto, Calder, Lapoujade, Titian, Raphael, and Michaelangelo in discussing how great art of the past relates to the challenges of his eraEssays in Aesthetics is a provocative collection that considers the nature of art and its meaning. Sartre considers the artist’s “function,” and the relation of art and the artist to the human condition. Sartre integrates his deep concern for the sensibilities of the artist with a fascinating analysis of the techniques of the artist as creator. The result is a vibrant manifesto of existentialist aesthetics. By looking at existentialism through the lens of great art, Essays in Aesthetics is just as valuable a read to the artist as it is to the philosopher. 

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  Tolstoy

  L. Winstanley

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  Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) is universally regarded as one of the greatest authors in history. This brief biography discusses, among other things, Tolstoy's childhood, married life, contemporaries, travels, and his strongly held opinions concerning religion and class privilege. Individual chapters are devoted to War and Peace and Anna Karenina. The former, with its vivid character portrayals and great historical, political, and military insight, is considered by many to be the world's greatest novel. Another chapter is devoted to Tolstoy's other notable works, and the book concludes with a consideration of his lasting influence. The book, published in 1914, contains a bibliography listing works about and by Tolstoy. L. Winstanley was a lecturer in English at the University College at Wales. --Adapted by Lee Smalley

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  The Wild Marsh - Four Seasons at...

  Rick Bass

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  An account of one year in the Yaak Valley wilderness range, by the acclaimed naturalist and memoirist.   Beginning with his family settling in for the long northwestern Montana winter, and capturing all the subtle harbingers of change that mark each passing month—the initial cruel teasing of spring, the splendor and fecundity of summer, and the bittersweet memories evoked by fall—this is a beautiful evocation of the “fauna, flora and folks” in this rugged and spectacular landscape (Publishers Weekly, starred review).   It is full of rich observation about what it takes to live in the valley—toughness, improvisation and, of course, duct tape. The Wild Marsh is also poignant, especially as the author reflects on what it means for his young daughters to grow up surrounded by the strangeness and wonder of nature. He shares with them the Yaak’s little secrets—where the huckleberries are best in a dry year, where to find a grizzly’s claw marks in an old cedar—and discovers that passing on this intimate local knowledge, the knowledge of home, is a kind of rare and valuable love.   Bass emerges not just as a writer but as a father, a neighbor, and a gifted observer, uniquely able to bring us close to the drama and sanctity of small things, ensuring that though the wilderness is increasingly at risk, the voice of the wilderness will not disappear.   “A work of wonder, praise, and thanksgiving for all the marvels of nature, where every aspect is connected and every process has its place. Bass, grounding his book in science well, takes the facts and transforms them, as a musician transforms musical notes, into a work of great beauty. This walk through a year is a walk through the author’s soul, filled with passions, dreams, fears, and the exuberance of Walt Whitman.” —School Library Journal, starred review   “Whether the topic is a forest fire in his front yard or the excitement of the first tiny cheerful glacier lilies in spring, Rick Bass is a stirring companion on the trail that leads west from the Walden Pond of Henry David Thoreau and the Sand County of Aldo Leopold.” —Ivan Doig, author of The Whistling Season

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  The First Partner - Hillary...

  Joyce Milton

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  Hillary Rodham Clinton is a formidable, fascinating, enigmatic woman, and this provocative, probing biography - in the works for over two years - offers real insight into her character, her values, and her career.Joyce Milton offers a meticulously detailed chronicle of Mrs. Clinton's life: her midwestern childhood; her first Washington stint as a legal staffer in the Watergate investigation; her ambiguous dual role in Arkansas as a public interest lawyer and a politician's wife; and her tumultuous White House years as the most controversial First Lady in America's history - and now the most visibly wronged woman in the world.Milton offers new perspectives on the firestorms that have raged about the First lady, from the healthcare fiasco to Whitewater and Vince Foster's suicide, to her husband's chronic infidelity and the scandals that have threatened the Clinton legacy and, ironically, have cast Hillary Clinton in a new, more sympathetic role. Milton also examines her attempts to reconcile a host of contradictions - feminist convictions in painful collision with family commitment; philosophical beliefs in conflict with harsh political reality; the precarious balance between professional ambition, public image, and private life.Lively and even-handed, this biography is sure to be required reading - and listening.

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