Behind the Magic Curtain
Behind the Magic Curtain

Author: T. K. Thorne

Publisher: NewSouth Books

Published: 2021-06-29

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 1588384438

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days is a remarkable look at a historic city enmeshed in racial tensions, revealing untold or forgotten stories of secret deals, law enforcement intrigue, and courage alongside pivotal events that would sweep change across the nation. Birmingham, Alabama gave birth to momentous events that spawned the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and affected world history. But that is not why it is known as The Magic City. It earned that nickname with its meteoric rise from a cornfield valley to an industrial boomtown in the late 1800s. Images of snarling dogs and fire hoses of the 1960s define popular perception of the city, obscuring the complexity of race relations in a tumultuous time and the contributions of white citizens who quietly or boldly influenced social change. Behind the Magic Curtain peels back history’s veil to reveal little-known or never-told stories of an intriguing cast of characters that include not only progressive members of the Jewish, Christian, and educational communities, but also a racist businessman and a Ku Klux Klan member, who, in an ironic twist, helped bring about justice and forward racial equality and civil rights. Woven throughout the book are the firsthand recollections of a reporter with the state’s major newspaper of the time. Embedded with law enforcement, he reveals the fascinating details of their secret wiretapping and intelligence operations. With a deft hand, Thorne offers the insight that can be gained from understanding little-known but important perspectives, painting a multihued portrait of a city that has figured so prominently in history, but which so few really know.

Do You Believe in Magic?
Do You Believe in Magic?

Author: Paul A. Offit, M.D.

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2013-06-18

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0062223003

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Medical expert Paul A. Offit, M.D., offers a scathing exposé of the alternative medicine industry, revealing how even though some popular therapies are remarkably helpful due to the placebo response, many of them are ineffective, expensive, and even deadly. Dr. Offit reveals how alternative medicine—an unregulated industry under no legal obligation to prove its claims or admit its risks—can actually be harmful to our health. Using dramatic real-life stories, Offit separates the sense from the nonsense, showing why any therapy—alternative or traditional—should be scrutinized. He also shows how some nontraditional methods can do a great deal of good, in some cases exceeding therapies offered by conventional practitioners. An outspoken advocate for science-based health advocacy who is not afraid to take on media celebrities who promote alternative practices, Dr. Offit advises, “There’s no such thing as alternative medicine. There’s only medicine that works and medicine that doesn’t.”

Behind the Curtain
Behind the Curtain

Author: Christian Thee

Publisher: Workman Publishing

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781563055256

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Describes, in text and look-through and pull-up illustrated panels, the onstage and backstage activities during a performance of the opera "Hansel and Gretel."

New Beginnings
New Beginnings

Author: Antonina Duridanova

Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.

Published: 2021-06-03

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1649521103

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Burning with desire to share the value of freedom, Antonina takes you from her plight in communist Bulgaria to the free shores of America. Following unfortunate events of life in a totalitarian regime in Bulgaria, Antonina bids goodbye to her homeland and flees to the Western world. She provides true experiences and observations of what life is in a communist society-her family's lands and cattle being confiscated by the agricultural labor cooperatives; the censorship of the press and any literal, artistic, and scientific works from the West; religion being prohibited; and any deviation from the norm leading to detention in a labor camp. Her last crossing of the Bulgarian-Yugoslavian border almost costs Antonina her life and makes up her mind to never go back. She describes her life as an immigrant at the refugee camp in Traiskirchen, Austria, while waiting for an American visa. Antonina is ecstatic when the plane cruises over the Statue of Liberty and lands in the most amazing city in the world-New York. She describes how she could taste, smell, feel, and touch freedom as she gets off the plane, ready to embark on new adventures. Antonina gets educated and becomes a good specialist in taxation, working for the United States Treasury Department. Ultimately, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she is invited to go back to Bulgaria and fix a broken tax system as a representative of the United States government. Her work in the newly democratic society of Bulgaria paved the way for the country to become a member of NATO, escaping Soviet influence, and later being accepted in the family of the European Union. 20

Magic and Loss
Magic and Loss

Author: Virginia Heffernan

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-06-27

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1501132679

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Virginia Heffernan gives a highly informative analysis of what the internet is and can be in an examination of its past, present and future.

Behind the Ride
Behind the Ride

Author: David Mumpower

Publisher: Theme Park Press

Published: 2019-08

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781683902195

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Behind the Pixie Dust Curtain Every Disney attraction comes with a story, and every story involves a few tricks of the trade that only Imagineers know. Here's your chance to peek behind the curtain and learn some of the secrets about thirty of the most popular Disney theme park rides. David Mumpower takes you behind-the-scenes at Disneyland and Walt Disney World to reveal the inner workings of your favorite attractions. He'll explain why Walt Disney chose many of these rides, and he'll describe the challenges that Imagineers faced in doing the impossible by bringing them to life. Mumpower begins with the story of how a Russian monarch's love of sledding indirectly led to the invention of the modern roller coaster. Then, he details the physical and thematic obstacles that Imagineers overcame to build iconic attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Of course, some of the best Disney rides are more recent. Mumpower also examines the difficulties in developing cutting-edge attractions like Avatar Flight of Passage, Radiator Springs Racers, and Slinky Dog Dash. Mumpower covers opening day rides still in operation today as well as some of the most recent additions to the vaunted Disney theme park lineup. He discusses all of these ride experiences plus the tricks that make them possible--and magical. If you've ever gotten off a Disney ride and wondered how they did it, or if you're the type of fan who'd rather examine an attraction than experience it, or maybe you'd like to be an Imagineer yourself someday, this is the book you've been waiting for.