New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back on the case again in Beating About the Bush. She won’t let any moss grow under her feet... When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. Then, as a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril. Will Agatha get her man at last? Or will the killer get her first? “M. C. Beaton has a foolproof plot for the village mystery.” —The New York Times Book Review
The '60's were the beginning and end of the age of innocence in many facets of life. Professional baseball players still played for the love of the game and not money. Today's average major league player makes more in one game than the average yearly wage in 1960. No one had an agent since there was no free agency and no bargaining power. BEATING ABOUT THE BUSHES contains amusing, informative and controversial elements providing the reader with an understanding for what every player faced. The Club was the plantation owner, you were the slave, and there was no hope for escape.
The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary is the ideal dictionary for advanced EFL/ESL learners. Easy to use and with a great CD-ROM - the perfect learner's dictionary for exam success. First published as the Cambridge International Dictionary of English, this new edition has been completely updated and redesigned. - References to over 170,000 words, phrases and examples explained in clear and natural English - All the important new words that have come into the language (e.g. dirty bomb, lairy, 9/11, clickable) - Over 200 'Common Learner Error' notes, based on the Cambridge Learner Corpus from Cambridge ESOL exams Plus, on the CD-ROM: - SMART thesaurus - lets you find all the words with the same meaning - QUICKfind - automatically looks up words while you are working on-screen - SUPERwrite - tools for advanced writing, giving help with grammar and collocation - Hear and practise all the words.
Most Australians live in cities and cling to the coastal fringe, yet our sense of what an Australian is – or should be – is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush. But what do we mean by 'the bush', and how has it shaped us? Starting with his forebears' battle to drive back nature and eke a living from the land, Don Watson explores the bush as it was and as it now is: the triumphs and the ruination, the commonplace and the bizarre, the stories we like to tell about ourselves and the national character, and those we don't. Via mountain ash and mallee, the birds and the beasts, slaughter, fire, flood and drought, swagmen, sheep and their shepherds, the strange and the familiar, the tragedies and the follies, the crimes and the myths and the hope – here is a journey that only our leading writer of non-fiction could take us on. At once magisterial in scope and alive with telling, wry detail, The Bush lets us see our landscape and its inhabitants afresh, examining what we have made, what we have destroyed, and what we have become in the process. No one who reads it will look at this country the same way again. 'Nothing he has written quite matches the wonders of The Bush . . . There is no dull page or even lifeless sentence between its covers and my urge is that if anyone wants a full blast of what Australia is, was, or might be, thrust The Bush into their hands. Watson seems to have been preparing to write it all his life, from when he was a small boy (born 1949) open to wonders on his family's Gippsland dairy farm . . . It's the unalloyed wonder of that small boy . . . that guides the reader most of all . . . a fountaining freshness of spirit that gives everything he sees and does the vivacity of being sighted for the first time.' Roger McDonald, The Age 'Flawlessly elegant writing . . . But this is excellent, hard-headed history, too . . . Utterly mesmerising and entrancing . . . A challenge to contemplate what it really is about this country that makes us who we think we are . . . A literary-historical odyssey.' Paul Daley, The Guardian (Australia) 'A loving rumination on Australia, the landmass, and those who live on it and from it . . . Watson refuses to be captured by easy categorisations or received opinion . . . The writing is crisp, witty and sardonic . . . Watson is an original, with an authentic, prophetic voice.' John Hirst, The Monthly 'An overwhelmingly affectionate portrait, one that's never sentimental or indulgently nostalgic, and one that defiantly resists lamentation . . . There is no doubt that The Bush stands with Bill Gammage's The Biggest Estate on Earth as one of the most important books published on the history of this country in recent years . . . The Bush is the crown in Watson's oeuvre, a magnificent, sprawling ode to the best in Australia, a challenge to us all to find new ways of loving the country.' The Saturday Paper 'Don Watson's magnificent, celebratory, contradictory study of the Australian bush will challenge the national imagination . . . An amiable, learned, playful and engrossing book . . . [A] great, succulent magic pudding of a book . . . Most of what we read is nothing like we would have expected . . . There is a sense that an amiable and eloquent uncle is telling us everything piquant he knows about theology and culture and land use and the beasts and flora and families of the bush.' Thomas Keneally, Weekend Australian 'The power of this book does come from the way Watson positions himself as both an insider and outsider to the Australian bush . . . A meditation on Australia itself through a reflection on the bush.' Frank Bongiorno, Australian Book Review 'A sprawling, fascinating book . . . Watson has pulled off a marvel, a book that educates and fascinates at the same time as it calls for action to preserve some things before they're lost. The best part, though, is his prose: bare and dry, with a dark sense of humour. A bit like the country he's describing.' Margot Lloyd, The Advertiser (Adelaide) 'Every now and again a book comes out that is so groundbreaking it causes you to think about a particular subject in a radically different light. Don Watson's The Bush: Travels in The Heart of Australia is one such work; a masterpiece of research, inquiry and poetry that challenges our basic assumptions of the Outback. Watson . . . has pulled off a dazzling achievement with The Bush, blending philosophy with science and storytelling . . . A beautifully written and thoughtful book.' Johanna Leggatt, Weekly Times 'Elegant, intricate, sprawling and sometimes harsh . . . [Watson] explores the bush with a mix of academic insight and campfire yarn . . . In a word: hypnotic.' Jeff Maynard, Herald Sun 'His romantic prose moves seamlessly through autobiographical tales to discuss the landscapes and histories that have shaped Australia.' National Geographic 'One of my favourite reads this year. What a writer he is . . . You find yourself sneaking off from others to be with it.' Kathleen Noonan, Courier-Mail 'Vast in scope, richly sourced, soaring and poetic, this journey to the heart of Australia has been rightly compared in significance to Bill Gammage's The Biggest Estate on Earth.' Barbara Farrelly, South Coast Register 'The Bush is his homage to Australia's mythic hinterland. Watson travels through the Mallee and the Murray-Darling, to WA's wheat belt and beyond, meeting people, talking, listening. Good writing that engages with Australia's past is a rare beast, too often bound up in the need for ''balance''. Watson has the freedom to ignore the rules; he allows himself to opine and he yarns at will. A delightful read.' Mark MacLean, Newcastle Herald
A profile of the Bush political clan patriarch—who he was and what he stood for, the examples he set, the events he shared, and the lives he touched. Prescott Bush is the only person in US history to be father of a US President, grandfather of a US President, and grandfather of a state governor. Duty, Honor, Country is more than a biography of the U.S. Senator from Connecticut, although it is that. It looks at the principles that Prescott Bush passed on like family heirlooms to his five children, including George H.W. Bush, the forty-first President of the United States: discipline, duty, ethics, commitment, courage, honor, honesty, loyalty, and responsibility. And it looks at the ways the Bush family legacy has made Prescott Bush, former President George Bush, George W. Bush, and Jeb Bush give themselves to public service. “My father believed in the concept of noblesse oblige,” said former President George Bush. “You made your money and you had a duty to serve the community or your country.” Written with the encouragement and enthusiasm of former President Bush, the book is a readable story of noblesse oblige in action, from the time Prescott Bush served in town government in Greenwich, Connecticut, to his career as a US Senator from Connecticut, to his role in passing far-reaching legislation in the Eisenhower years. It also deals honestly with Prescott Bush’s alleged business relationships with Nazi industrialists and other accusations. Half of the book also shows how the commitment to public service was lived out in the lives of Prescott’s children and grandchildren, focusing on his son George H.W. Bush and his grandsons George W. Bush and Jeb Bush.
"Shocking in its disclosures, elegantly crafted, and faultlessly measured in its judgments."-Roger Morris, author of Richard Milhous Nixon and Partners in Power How did the deeply flawed George W. Bush ascend to the highest office in the nation, what forces abetted his rise, and-perhaps most important-were those forces really vanquished by Obama's election? Award-winning investigative journalist Russ Baker gives us the answers in Family of Secrets, a compelling and startling new take on the Bush dynasty and the shadowy elite that has quietly steered the American republic for the past half century and more. Baker shows how this network of figures in intelligence, the military, oil, and finance enabled-and in turn benefited handsomely from-the Bushes' perch at the highest levels of government. As Baker reveals, this deeply entrenched elite remains in power regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. Family of Secrets offers countless disclosures that challenge the conventional accounts of such central events as the JFK assassination and Watergate. It includes an inside account of George W.'s cynical religious conversion and the untold real background to the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina. Baker's narrative is gripping, sobering, and deeply sourced. It will change the way we understand not just the Bush years, but a half century of postwar history-and the present.
Any visit to a wilderness area is bound to prompt many questions, not only about the animals and plants that inhabit the region but also about the landscapes and processes that shape the environment. This book is designed to answer those mose commom questions, briefly and generally covering the topics of animal behavior and the signs animals leave behind.
From her years as the presidential press secretary to her debates with colleagues on Fox News' The Five, Dana Perino reveals the lessons she's learned that have guided her through life, kept her level-headed, and led to her success, even in the face of adversity. Thoughtful, inspiring, and often surprising, And the Good News is . . . traces Dana Perino's unlikely journey through politics and television. It's a remarkable American story-made up of equal parts determination and clear-eyed optimism. From facing professional challenges and confronting personal fears to stepping up to a podium for a President, Dana has come to expect the unexpected and has an uncanny ability to find the good news in any tough situation. And the Good News is . . . takes us from her Western childhood in Wyoming and Colorado to a chance meeting on an airplane that changes her life entirely. Then, with refreshing honesty and humor, she recounts her frustration with a string of unsatisfying jobs and living circumstances until a key career tip leads her back to Washington, D.C. to work for the Bush Administration. Dana also shares here her best work and life lessons-tips that will help you to get your point across convincingly while allowing your own grace and personality to shine through. As someone who still believes in working together to solve the problems our nation faces, Dana offers clear, practical advice on how to restore civility to our personal and public conversations. The result is a fascinating read that can help anyone become more successful, productive, and joyously content.
In a captivating and compelling voice that ranks with many of our greatest memoirists, Laura Bush tells the story of her unique path from dusty Midland, Texas to the world stage and the White House. An only child, Laura Welch grew up in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She masterfully recreates the rugged, oil boom-and-bust culture of Midland, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships that she retains to this day. For the first time, in heart-wrenching detail, she writes about her tragic car accident that left her friend Mike Douglas dead. Laura Welch attended Southern Methodist University in an era on the cusp of monumental change. After graduating, she became an elementary school teacher, working in inner city schools, then trained as a librarian. At age thirty, she met George W. Bush, whom she had last passed in the hallway in seventh grade. Three months later, 'the old maid of Midland married Midland's most eligible bachelor'. As First Lady of Texas, Laura Bush championed education and launched the Texas Book Festival, passions she brought to the White House. Here, she captures presidential life in the frantic and fearful months after 9-11, when fighter jet cover echoed through the walls. She writes openly about the threats, the withering media spotlight, and the transformation of her role. One of the first U.S. officials to visit war-torn Afghanistan, she reached out to disease-stricken African nations and tirelessly advocated for women in the Middle East and dissidents in Burma. With deft humor and a sharp eye, Laura Bush lifts the curtain on what really happens inside the White House. And she writes with honesty and eloquence about her family, political life, and her eight remarkable Washington years. Laura Bush's compassion, her sense of humour, her grace, and her uncommon willingness to bare her heart make this story deeply revelatory, beautifully rendered, and unlike any other First Lady's memoir ever written.
Take an exclusive look inside the Oval Office?from an unlikely perspective. As a black conservative, Ron Christie has often taken the road less traveled. And now, he carries readers along with him on his unique, illuminating journey through the hallowed halls of the West Wing and into the sacred chamber of the Oval Office, as he shows the real workings inside one of the most secretive administrations ever: the White House of George W. Bush. Who really makes the big policy decisions? How do Republicans view the black community? What went on behind closed doors during the Trent Lott scandal? How did top White House officials react after the attacks of Septembe 11? Former special assistant to President Bush, Ron Christie answers these probing questions and many more as he offers the inside scoop?on everything from race issues to major political maneuvers?and provides a refreshingly candid and positive portrayal of our nation's leaders in this must-read for those who want to go inside George W. Bush's West Wing.
