In this new collection essays, Matthew Stevenson weaves together a historical tapestry of the last hundred years. From the battlefields of Gallipoli and those around Armenia, to Cold War Washington and modern Beirut, he has written a compelling, yet often humorous and always accessible account of persons and places encountered in his travels.
Overcoming disabling injuries, Vietnam vet Paul Bernard becomes an award-winning journalist and television newsman. Known for holding a mirror to American society and long critical of the radical right, after 9-11 Bernard attacks the Bush administration for Osama bin Laden's escape and leading the nation into a disastrous war. On assignment in Iraq, Bernard is killed under suspicious circumstances. Interwoven with the account of his life is an interview of his mentor, Professor Augustus F.X. Flynn, by a magazine writer profiling him. Frustrated by Washington's inaction, the two set out to find the truth about the killing. Book One tells of Paul Bernard's coming of age, his Canadian immigrant roots, the patriotic and religious intensity of the early years. Then through the devastation of Vietnam to recovery and return, immersion in the New York newspaper scene, his family life. Twentieth Century Limited Book Two - Age of Reckoning, continues and completes the story.
This is a masterful volume on remembrance and war in the twentieth century. Jay Winter locates the fascination with the subject of memory within a long-term trajectory that focuses on the Great War. Images, languages, and practices that appeared during and after the two world wars focused on the need to acknowledge the victims of war and shaped the ways in which future conflicts were imagined and remembered. At the core of the “memory boom” is an array of collective meditations on war and the victims of war, Winter says. The book begins by tracing the origins of contemporary interest in memory, then describes practices of remembrance that have linked history and memory, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century. The author also considers “theaters of memory”—film, television, museums, and war crimes trials in which the past is seen through public representations of memories. The book concludes with reflections on the significance of these practices for the cultural history of the twentieth century as a whole.
John King Fairbank (1907-1991) was best known to the public as the dean of Chinese studies in the United States. John Hersey, Hanu Reischauer, Harrison Salisbury, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., are among the more than 125 friends, students, and colleagues to contribute to this volume. Each author attempts to capture the essence of the Fairbank he or she knew. The resulting pieces are alternately incisive, affectionate, intimate, deeply affecting, and hilariously funny. Fairbank Remembered is an endearing and moving portrait of America's doyen on China.
In 1963, Margaret Dexters husband made an impulsive decision to pack up and move to England for a year. They leased their home in Santa Barbara, California, and together with their four children made an unforgettable journey by land and sea, throwing caution to the wind. The move to England exposed the Dexters to much of the cultural richness of Europe; unfortunately, they returned to face financial ruin and cliff-hanging events. In 1967, Stillman Dexters work led him to Libya, forcing him to leave the family. In 1969, Margaret, five children and two poodles moved to the island of Malta, not far from Libya and closer to Stillman. Their life became almost idyllic, promising a rosy future. By November 1970, Libyas tense political situation changed everything. Libyas leader, Muammar Qaddaffi, denied renewal of all American work permits. The family plans for what might have been were swept away by one telegram. Margaret Dexter pens a loving tribute not only to the island of Malta and its special inhabitants, but also to her familys remarkable peregrination. Malta Remembered is an inspiring story of how one couple blessed and united by good fortune braved waves of adversity with hard work and love.