Chronicles Jack Nicklaus' win at the 1986 Masters, despite being ranked only 160th going into the tournament, and profiles the Masters competition and such players as Seve Ballesteros, Tom Kite, and Greg Norman.
Highland warriors, sworn to protect innocence through the ages… A dark, ruthless Highlander, the Black Macleod has refused his destiny. His life is revenge for the massacre of his family. His enemies’ insults—that he is a man of stone—only amuse him. But fate is impatient, and when a woman from another time dares to summon him, he cannot resist her powers—or her…. A highlander driven by vengeance. The woman who will save him. A schoolteacher by day, Tabitha Rose uses her magic to protect others by night. When the vision of a dark Highlander, bloody and burned, appears to Tabby, she knows she has been called to help him, no matter how frightening he might be. But what Tabby doesn’t expect is to be taken against her will to his dark, violent time. And when evil begins to stalk her, she realizes she must fight for far more than his destiny—she must fight for her love….
A “riveting and thoroughly researched” history of language technology’s effect on society across millennia—from Sumerian syntax to social media hashtags (Phil Lapsley). Writing was born thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia. Spreading to Sumer, and then Egypt, this revolutionary tool allowed rulers to extend their control far and wide, giving rise to the world’s first empires. When Phoenician traders took their alphabet to Greece, literacy’s first boom led to the birth of drama and democracy. In Rome, it helped spell the downfall of the Republic. Later, medieval scriptoria and vernacular bibles gave rise to religious dissent, and with the combination of cheaper paper and Gutenberg’s printing press, the fuse of Reformation was lit. The Industrial Revolution brought the telegraph and the steam driven printing press, allowing information to move faster and wider than ever before through the invention of the newspaper. But along with radio and television, these new technologies were more easily exploited by the powerful, as seen in Germany, the Soviet Union, even Rwanda, where radio incited genocide. With the rise of carbon duplicates (Russian samizdat), photocopying (the Pentagon Papers), the internet, social media, and cell phones (the recent Arab Spring) more people have access to communications, making the world more connected than ever before. This “accessible, quite enjoyable, and highly informative read” will change the way you look at technology, history, and power (Booklist). “[Bernstein] enables us to see what remains the same, even as much has changed.” —Library Journal, “Editors’ Picks” “It brims with interesting ideas and astonishing connections.” —Phil Lapsley, author of Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell “[Bernstein’s] narrative is succinct and extremely well sourced. . . . [He] reminds us of a number of technologies whose changed roles are less widely chronicled in conventional histories of the media.” —The Irish Times
How have artists across the millennia responded to warfare? In this uniquely wide-ranging book, Theodore Rabb blends military history and the history of art to search for the answers. He draws our attention to masterpieces from the ancient world to the twentieth century--paintings, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, engravings, architecture, and photographs--and documents the evolving nature of warfare as artists have perceived it. The selected works represent landmarks in the history of art and are drawn mainly from the western tradition, though important examples from Japan, India, and the Middle East are also brought into the discussion. Together these works tell a story of long centuries during which warfare inspired admiration and celebration. Yet a shift toward criticism and condemnation emerged in the Renaissance, and by the end of the nineteenth century, glorification of the warrior by leading artists had ceased. Rabb traces this progression, from such works as the Column of Trajan and the Titian "Battle of Lepanto", whose makers celebrated glorious victories, to the antiwar depictions created by Brueghel, Goya, Picasso, and others. Richly illustrated and accessibly written, this book presents a study of unprecedented sweep and multidisciplinary interest. -- Book jacket.
Highland warriors sworn to protect Innocence throughout the Ages—A golden man, he is called Black Royce—a battle-hardened soldier of the gods. His vows are his life—until he is sent to New York City to protect a Healer from those who would use her powers for themselves. The moment Royce sees beautiful, feisty Allie Monroe, he knows she will be his only weakness—and he is right. Destiny is a dangerous thingAllie Monroe is more than an heiress. She is a Healer, willing to do anything to save victims of the evil that lurks in the city at night. But alone, she can do only so much—until destiny sends her the darkest Highlander of them all. Then evil strikes and Royce is destroyed before Allie's eyes. Now Allie will do anything to save Royce—even if it means going back in time to a dark, dangerous world. Confronting their enemies could cost not only their lives, but their love—for all eternity.
The origins of the Post Office go back to the early years of the Tudor monarchy: Brian Tuke, a former King's Bailiff in Sandwich, was acknowledged as the first 'Master of the Posts' by Cardinal Wolsey in 1512, and went on to build up a network of 'postmasters' across England for Henry VIII. Over the following five hundred years the Royal Mail expanded to an unimaginable degree to become the largest employer in the country, and the face of the British state for most people in their everyday lives. But it also faced the demands of an increasingly commercial marketplace. With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the possibility of privatising the Royal Mail has prompted passionate arguments - and has added immeasurably to the difficulties of running it. In charting the whole of this extraordinary story, Duncan Campbell-Smith recounts a series of remarkable tales, including how postal engineers built the first programmable computer for the wartime code-breakers of Bletchley Park and how the Royal Mail managed to successfully continue delivering post to the front lines during two world wars, but also how they failed to avert the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He brings to life many of the dominant personalities in the Royal Mail's history - from Rowland Hill, who imposed a uniform penny post and set the great Victorian expansion on its way, to Tony Benn who championed the modernisation of the service in the 1960s and Tom Jackson who led the postal workers' biggest union through fifteen frequently stormy years up to 1982. This is the first complete history of the Royal Mail up to the present day, based on its comprehensive archives, and including the first detailed account of the past half-century of Britain's postal history, made possible by privileged access to confidential records. Today's debate over the future of the Royal Mail is shown to be just the ;atest chapter in a centuries-old conflict between its roles raising revenue and serving the public. Will its employees remain, like Brian Tuke's postmasters, servants of the Crown? This book could hardly appear at a more timely moment.
Go back in time to 15th century Scotland in New York Times bestselling author Brenda Joyce's Masters of Time paranormal romance series. Dark Seduction: Book 1 Malcolm of Dunroch is a newly chosen Master, a novice to his extraordinary and dangerous powers—and a young woman's death is already on his hands. Malcolm is determined to fight his darkest desires, denying himself all pleasure…until fate sends him another Innocent, the beautiful Claire Camden. Since her mother's murder, Claire has done everything possible to make a safe, secure life. But nothing can prepare her for the powerful medieval warrior who sweeps her back into his time—a treacherous, frightening world. Claire needs Malcolm to survive, yet she must keep him arm's length. For Malcolm's soul is at stake—and fulfilling his desires could prove fatal…. Dark Rival: Book 2 Black Royce is a battle-hardened soldier of the gods. His vows are his life—until he is sent to New York City. The moment Royce sees beautiful, feisty Allie Monroe, he knows she will be his only weakness—and he is right. Allie Monroe is more than an heiress. She is a Healer, willing to do anything to save victims from the evil that lurks at night. But alone, she can do only so much—until destiny sends her the darkest Highlander of them all. Then evil strikes and Royce is destroyed before Allie's eyes. Now Allie will do anything to save Royce—even if it means going back in time. Confronting their enemies could cost not only their lives, but their love—for all eternity. Dark Embrace: Book 3 Aidan, the Wolf of Awe, has abandoned the Brotherhood and forsaken his vows, seeking vengeance against the evil that destroyed his son. He has not saved an Innocent in years—until he hears Brianna Rose's scream across centuries, and leaps to modern-day Manhattan to rescue her. Brie is a gifted empath who spends her time fighting evil—and fantasizing about the medieval Highlander she met just once. When Aidan suddenly appears and takes her hostage, Brie cannot believe how dark and dangerous he has become. She knows she should be afraid, but instead, she will fight across time for his redemption…and his love.
In 1875 Eugène Fromentin toured Flanders and Holland to study Dutch painting. He visited churches, museums, and private collections, and jotted down his personal impressions on the spot. The result was The masters of past time--a delightful, sensitive book. In his own foreword Fromentin speaks modestly of his aim: "I shall merely describe, in the presence of certain pictures, the effects of surprise, pleasure, astonishment, and no less exactly of disappointment, which they happened to cause me." As a painter himself Fromentin was absorbed by the technique of the paintings he studied, and he describes the works with directness and simplicity, but also with a subtle and critical intelligence.--Back cover.
Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to co-create the most notoriously successful game franchises in history—Doom and Quake—until the games they made tore them apart. Americans spend more money on video games than on movie tickets. Masters of Doom is the first book to chronicle this industry’s greatest story, written by one of the medium’s leading observers. David Kushner takes readers inside the rags-to-riches adventure of two rebellious entrepreneurs who came of age to shape a generation. The vivid portrait reveals why their games are so violent and why their immersion in their brilliantly designed fantasy worlds offered them solace. And it shows how they channeled their fury and imagination into products that are a formative influence on our culture, from MTV to the Internet to Columbine. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry—a powerful and compassionate account of what it’s like to be young, driven, and wildly creative. “To my taste, the greatest American myth of cosmogenesis features the maladjusted, antisocial, genius teenage boy who, in the insular laboratory of his own bedroom, invents the universe from scratch. Masters of Doom is a particularly inspired rendition. Dave Kushner chronicles the saga of video game virtuosi Carmack and Romero with terrific brio. This is a page-turning, mythopoeic cyber-soap opera about two glamorous geek geniuses—and it should be read while scarfing down pepperoni pizza and swilling Diet Coke, with Queens of the Stone Age cranked up all the way.”—Mark Leyner, author of I Smell Esther Williams