Starting with an examination of how historians work, this "Very Short Introduction" aims to explore history in a general, pithy, and accessible manner, rather than to delve into specific periods.
I had done everything right, just as I had been taught. I had set a goal and worked toward it. I thought that if I saved all that I could, my dream would soon come true. I was eleven years old. As the day for my great reward neared, my bubble was broken. I watched as my trophy slipped through my fingers and into the hands of someone else. It hurt at first, thinking about all of the fun times that I had missed, working many jobs and saving every penny for a new bicycle. Yet in a profound way, the Lord and my parents were teaching us about compassion and giving and working toward a goal. My older brother and I were blessed beyond measure by that lesson. I reach out to parents and especially Christian parents to be creative with solid life lessons and your children will be solid believers when they grow old. If you are a grandparent, you will want to read this story to your grandchildren. They will be blessed and you will return to times past when life was simple. Much has changed since those days, but that's just the way it was growing up in our house.
Just Give Me Your Last Name is a book that was born out of the life of a frustrated single waiting endlessly for love. This book takes you through my journey of finding true love in singleness and becoming whole in that process. The aim of this book is to give you a different perspective to single life and to help you embrace your single journey as you hope to embrace the marriage journey. The book is about finding the silver lining in the seemingly cloud of single life and letting that lining trump the cloud until the gloss of your single life is evident to the world. My hope is that as you read this book, you will prioritize finding and giving love as a single person instead of waiting for love to find you. This book will move you to the front seat of your single life, have you switch to cruise mode, and soar the length and breadth of singleness in confidence. This book will make you laugh, get you thinking, and ultimately, move you to action that will birth the change you always hoped for.
A startling exploration of the history of the most controversial book of the Bible, by the bestselling author of Beyond Belief. Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars, she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however, tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end of the world . . . or is it? In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies. In a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary text.
Explains how companies must pinpoint business strategies to a few critically important choices, identifying common blunders while outlining simple exercises and questions that can guide day-to-day and long-term decisions.
"[An] uncanny Gothic mystery... Satisfying."—New York Times Book Review "A romping read with a deliciously dark conceit at its center... Reminded me of Alias Grace."—Kiran Millwood Hargrave From the author of The Silent Companions, a thrilling Victorian gothic horror story about a young seamstress who claims her needle and thread have the power to kill Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange idea: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread--because Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches. The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations—of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses—will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality, and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? For fans of Shirley Jackson, The Poison Thread is a spine-tingling, sinister read about the evil that lurks behind the facade of innocence.
The book follows the story of Miss Magdalene Prescott, a gentle and quiet lady who unexpectedly inherits a cottage in Devonshire and £600 a year from her great-aunt Tremlett. The novel explores the impact of this inheritance on Miss Prescott and her relationships with her family and friends, as well as the challenges and opportunities that come with newfound wealth. The book also touches on themes of duty, sacrifice, and social class in Victorian England.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.
Transforming Occupation in the Western Zones of Germany provides an in-depth transnational study of power politics, daily life, and social interactions in the Western Zones of occupied Germany during the aftermath of the Second World War. Combining a history from below with a top-down perspective, the volume explores the origins, impacts, and legacies of the occupations of the western zones of Germany by the United States, Britain and France, examining complex yet topical issues that often arise as a consequence of war including regime change, transitional justice, everyday life under occupation, the role of intermediaries, and the multifaceted relationship between occupiers and occupied. Adopting a novel set of approaches that puts questions of power, social relations, gender, race, and the environment centre stage, it moves beyond existing narratives to place the occupation within a broader framework of continuity and change in post-war western Europe. Incorporating essays from 16 international scholars, this volume provides a substantial contribution to the emerging fields of occupation studies and the comparative history of post-war Europe.
Discover the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the book that inspired the iconic film, through the eyes of author L. Frank Baum’s intrepid wife, Maud, in this richly imagined novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse. “A breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into the heart of one of America’s most enduring fairy tales.”—Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband’s masterpiece for the screen, Maud Gage Baum, now in her seventies, sets about trying to finagle her way onto the set. Nineteen years after Frank’s passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the book—she’s the only one left who knows its secrets. But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of “Over the Rainbow,” Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her youth as a suffragist’s daughter to her hardscrabble prairie years with Frank, which inspired The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Judy reminds Maud of a young girl she cared for in South Dakota, a dreamer who never got a happy ending. Now, with the young girl under pressure from the studio as well as from her ambitious stage mother, Maud resolves to protect Judy—the way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy.