The law of succession rests on a single brute fact: you can't take it with you. The stock of wealth that turns over as people die is staggeringly large. In the United States alone, some $41 trillion will pass from the dead to the living in the first half of the 21st century. But the social impact of inheritance is more than a matter of money; it is also a matter of what money buys and brings about. Law and custom allow people many ways to pass on their property. As Friedman's enlightening social history reveals, a decline in formal rules, the ascendancy of will substitutes over classic wills, social changes like the rise of the family of affection, changing ideas of acceptable heirs, and the potential disappearance of the estate tax all play a large role in the balance of wealth. Dead Hands uncovers the tremendous social and legal importance of this rite of passage, and how it reflects changing values and priorities in American families and society.
Dead Hands traces the fascinating career of a curious imaginative device: the wandering, disembodied, or ghostly hand. Dexterously threading historical, theoretical, and formalist questions, the author situates this familiar gothic convention in its rich literary and intellectual contexts, from early modern English drama through American fiction.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE The first full account of how the Cold War arms race finally came to a close, this riveting narrative history sheds new light on the people who struggled to end this era of massive overkill, and examines the legacy of the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that remain a threat today. Drawing on memoirs, interviews in both Russia and the US, and classified documents from deep inside the Kremlin, David E. Hoffman examines the inner motives and secret decisions of each side and details the deadly stockpiles that remained unsecured as the Soviet Union collapsed. This is the fascinating story of how Reagan, Gorbachev, and a previously unheralded collection of scientists, soldiers, diplomats, and spies changed the course of history.
In the tradition of his renowned father, James J. Butcher’s debut novel is a brilliant urban fantasy about a young man who must throw out the magical rule book to solve the murder of his former mentor. On the streets of Boston, the world is divided into the ordinary Usuals, and the paranormal Unorthodox. And in the Department of Unorthodox Affairs, the Auditors are the magical elite, government-sanctioned witches with spells at their command and all the power and prestige that comes with it. Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby is…not one of those witches. After flunking out of the Auditor training program and being dismissed as “not Department material,” Grimsby tried to resign himself to life as a mediocre witch. But he can’t help hoping he’ll somehow, someway, get another chance to prove his skill. That opportunity comes with a price when his former mentor, aka the most dangerous witch alive, is murdered down the street from where he works, and Grimsby is the Auditors’ number one suspect. Proving his innocence will require more than a little legwork, and after forming a strange alliance with the retired legend known as the Huntsman and a mysterious being from Elsewhere, Grimsby is abruptly thrown into a life of adventure, whether he wants it or not. Now all he has to do is find the real killer, avoid the Auditors on his trail, and most importantly, stay alive.
'This is a story about what might happen when a woman takes charge... A glorious visceral mystery' The Times While on her daily walk with her dog in the woods near her home, Vesta comes across a chilling handwritten note. Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body. Shaky even on her best days, Vesta is also alone, and new to the area, having moved here after the death of her husband. Her brooding about the note grows quickly into a full-blown obsession: who was Magda and how did she meet her fate? From the Booker-shortlisted author of Eileen comes this razor-sharp, chilling and darkly hilarious novel about the stories we tell ourselves and how we strive to obscure the truth. __________________________ PRAISE FOR DEATH IN HER HANDS: 'Routinely hailed as one of the most exciting young American authors working today' Guardian 'A new kind of murder mystery' New Yorker 'Dark, devious' Observer 'A fine line between shocking realism and the absurd' New Statesman 'A brilliant off-kilter detective story' Evening Standard 'A beautiful novel' Sunday Times
Can a woman who has lost her memory piece together the truth about her family, her life, and a friend’s murder? After waking up with amnesia in hospital, Cassie returns home to a life she doesn’t recognize. She gradually learns that dodgy associations from her old life have left her estranged from her husband and alienated from her children. Cassie no longer wants to be the person she was before—but breaking away from her past and from her wealthy family is not so simple. Meanwhile, she still suffers confusion and experiences nightmares about an unknown man, while hearing from her friend Marcie that she had been having an affair. When the police dismiss her after she receives a frightening phone call, Cassie vows to uncover the truth. But when a body is found, a series of revelations brings Cassie’s past into shocking clarity . . .
What would happen within the borders of America if our Second Amendment Rights were taken from us? That question was researched by author Doug Downey with astonishing answers. From personal interviews, historical facts, statics, and fictional descriptions, Doug attempts to educate the public on the responses received. These interviews took place before and after the highly published news of the shootings during December 2012.
Charlton Heston is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Ten Commandments and for his Academy Award–winning performance in the 1959 classic Ben-Hur. Throughout his long career, Heston used his cinematic status as a powerful moral force to effect social and political change. Author Emilie Raymond examines Heston’s role as a crusader for individual rights and his evolution into a major American political figure with a pivotal role in the conservative movement. Heston’s political activities were as varied as they were time consuming. He worked with the Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, and first Bush administrations. He marched in support of black civil rights, served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild, and helped shape policy for the National Endowment for the Arts before taking on his most high-profile position—president of the National Rifle Association. Over the course of his career, Heston became disillusioned with the Democrats; he formally registered with the Republican Party in the 1980s, arguing that the decision was in keeping with his longtime advocacy of individual rights. From My Cold, Dead Hands is far more than a biography—it is a chronicle of the resurgence of American conservative thought and, in particular, the birth of neoconservatism. Heston’s brand of neoconservatism differed from that of the exclusively intellectual wing, and he came to represent a previously ignored segment of neoconservatives operating on the basis of more common, emotionally oriented concerns. The neocons brought new life to the GOP, and Raymond convincingly argues that Heston revitalized conservatism in general: his image of morality, individualism, and masculinity lent the conservative movement credibility with a larger public. He effectively campaigned for conservative candidates and causes, using his popularity and image to fuel and legitimize his political activities. Heston’s high degree of political engagement not only paved the way for many of today’s Hollywood activists but also helped popularize many of the beliefs of the neoconservative movement. A balanced look at Heston and his offscreen work, From My Cold, Dead Hands explains how this charismatic man of conviction propelled his personal beliefs into the political mainstream of America.
"From the exquisitely odd to the disquietingly familiar ... Six tales - lifting the frayed edges of our multi-textured times to reveal hidden regions rarely seen - where dislocated lives drift, struggle, and try to flee - betwen layers of shifting reality."--Back cover blurb
A young man rushes to reach the bedside of his dying father, but arrives too late. His younger brother was present at the death, but his attitude is strangely ambiguous, and the elder brother becomes suspicious. The intentions of the dead man's mistress are also unclear. The mourners become increasingly consumed by feverish imagining, building a powerfully tense atmosphere as their characters start to disintegrate. This new play by international dramatist, poet and theorist, Howard Barker, toured in a production by The Wrestling School theatre company in 2005.
