- Table View
- List View
Osama Bin Laden: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam, And The Future Of America
by Michael Scheuer9/11 almost instantaneously remade American politics and foreign policy. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, water boarding and Guantanamo are examples of its profound and far-reaching effects. But despite its monumental impact--and a deluge of books about al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism--no one has written a serious assessment of the man who planned it, Osama bin Laden. Available biographies depict bin Laden as an historical figure, the mastermind behind 9/11, but no longer relevant to the world it created. These accounts, Michael Scheuer strongly believes, have contributed to a widespread and dangerous denial of his continuing significance and power. In this book, Scheuer provides a much-needed corrective--a hard-headed, closely reasoned portrait of bin Laden, showing him to be a figure of remarkable leadership skills, strategic genius, and considerable rhetorical abilities. The first head of the CIA's bin Laden Unit, where he led the effort to track down bin Laden, Scheuer draws from a wealth of information about bin Laden and his evolution from peaceful Saudi dissident to America's Most Wanted. Shedding light on his development as a theologian, media manipulator, and paramilitary commander, Scheuer makes use of all the speeches and interviews bin Laden has given as well as lengthy interviews, testimony, and previously untranslated documents written by those who grew up with bin Laden in Saudi Arabia, served as his bodyguards and drivers, and fought alongside him against the Soviets. The bin Laden who emerges from these accounts is devout, talented, patient, and ruthless; in other words, a truly formidable and implacable enemy of the West. Acclaim for Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism "Pulls few punches...a fascinating window on America's war with Al Qaeda." --Michiko Kakutani, New York Times "No serious observer of the war on terrorism can ignore this scathing critique." --Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. "A powerful, persuasive analysis of the terrorist threat and the Bush administration's failed efforts to fight it." --Richard A. Clarke, Washington Post Book World "A fire-breathing denunciation of U.S. counterterrorism policy." --Julian Borger, The Guardian "Presents overwhelmingly persuasive evidence to buttress a host of significant and controversial arguments." --Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic Monthly "Destined to become a classic in the field of counterterrorism analysis." --Bruce Hoffman, author of Inside Terrorism
Oscar: A Heart-Warming Tale of Feline Bravery
by Kate AllanWhen Kate’s beloved cat, Oscar, is found with both hind legs severed by a combine-harvester, Noel Fitzpatrick, star of Channel 4's The Supervet, agrees to try pioneering surgery to replace his legs with prosthetics. This is the amazing account of a feline destined to become the world’s first bionic cat.
Oscar: A Life
by Matthew SturgisThe first major biography of Oscar Wilde in thirty years, and the most complete telling of his life and times to date. NOMINATED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2019 'The Book of the Year, perhaps of the decade' TLS 'Simply the best modern biography of Wilde... A terrific achievement' Evening Standard 'Page-turning... Vivid and desperately moving. However much you think you know Wilde, this book will absorb and entertain you' The Sunday TimesBooks of the YearOscar Wilde's life – like his wit – was alive with paradox. He was both an early exponent and a victim of 'celebrity culture': famous for being famous, he was lauded and ridiculed in equal measure. His achievements were frequently downplayed, his successes resented. He had a genius for comedy but strove to write tragedies. He was an unabashed snob who nevertheless delighted in exposing the faults of society. He affected a dandified disdain but was prone to great acts of kindness. Although happily married, he became a passionate lover of men and – at the very peak of his success – brought disaster upon himself. He disparaged authority, yet went to the law to defend his love for Lord Alfred Douglas. Having delighted in fashionable throngs, Wilde died almost alone. Above all, his flamboyant refusal to conform to the social and sexual orthodoxies of his day make him a hero and an inspiration to all who seek to challenge convention. Matthew Sturgis draws on a wealth of new material and fresh research, bringing alive the distinctive mood and characters of the fin de siècle in the richest and most compelling portrait of Wilde to date.
Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical
by Laurie WinerA new look at artist Oscar Hammerstein II as a pivotal and underestimated force in the creation of modern American culture You know his work—Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I. But you don’t really know Oscar Hammerstein II, the man who, more than anyone else, invented the American musical. Among the most commercially successful artists of his time, he was a fighter for social justice who constantly prodded his audiences to be better than they were. Diving deep into Hammerstein’s life, examining his papers and his lyrics, critic Laurie Winer shows how he orchestrated a collective reimagining of America, urging it forward with a subtly progressive vision of the relationship between country and city, rich and poor, America and the rest of the world. His rejection of bitterness, his openness to strangers, and his optimistic humor shaped not only the musical but the American dream itself. His vision can continue to be a touchstone to this day.
Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years
by Nicholas FrankelNicholas Frankel presents a revisionary account of Oscar Wilde’s final years, spent in poverty and exile in Europe following his release from an English prison for the crime of gross indecency between men. Despite repeated setbacks and open hostility, Wilde—unapologetic and even defiant—attempted to rebuild himself as a man, and a man of letters.
Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years (Editorial Theory And Literary Criticism Ser.)
by Nicholas FrankelNicholas Frankel presents a revisionary account of Oscar Wilde’s final years, spent in poverty and exile in Europe following his release from an English prison for the crime of gross indecency between men. Despite repeated setbacks and open hostility, Wilde—unapologetic and even defiant—attempted to rebuild himself as a man, and a man of letters.
Oscar Wilde (Writers Lives)
by Ruth RobbinsA short, readable introduction to Oscar Wilde's life, work and afterlife.
Oscar Wilde (Writers Lives)
by Ruth RobbinsA short, readable introduction to Oscar Wilde's life, work and afterlife.
Oscar Wilde: A Life In Letters (Collins Classics Ser.)
by Oscar WildeWilde the writer is known to us from his plays and prose fiction, but apparently it was in his conversation that his genius reached its summit. His talk is lost and his autobiography was never written, but his letters reveal him at his spontaneous, sparkling best.
Oscar Wilde -- The Great Drama of His Life: How His Tragedy Reflected His Personality
by Ashley RobinsIn the 1890s Oscar Wilde enjoyed one of the most high-profile reputations in Britain; yet, virtually overnight, he was plunged into disgrace and ruin. What were the reasons for this extraordinary reversal of fortune? Ashley Robins explores Wilde's motivation in prosecuting the Marquess of Queensberry, and elaborates on the precarious legal situation that effectively quashed any prospect of a withdrawal from the lawsuit without dire consequences. He examines the medical and psychiatric aspects of Wilde's two-year imprisonment and reveals -- for the first time and based on the original Home Office records -- the machinations among prison officials and doctors to cover up Wilde's state of health. Wilde's medical history is presented with an expert evaluation of his terminal illness, including a resolution of the syphilis controversy. Robins details Wilde's tangled matrimonial affairs during his imprisonment and goes on to disclose the manoeuvres adopted by friends to secure his early release, citing hitherto unpublished letters to show that bribery of prison personnel was seriously contemplated. The issue of homosexuality is discussed not only in relation to Oscar Wilde but from the broader historical, legal and biological perspective. The author portrays Wilde's character and behaviour through the images he projected onto society, by the strong but mixed public reaction to him, and by the quality of his interpersonal relationships with his wife, family and close friends. Finally, Wilde's personality is assessed using internationally accepted diagnostic criteria; and, in an unusual and innovative experiment, a group of Wildean scholars completed a psychological questionnaire as if they were doing so for Oscar Wilde himself. Drawing on these findings and on his own extensive psychiatric experience, Ashley Robins concludes that Wilde had a disorder of personality that culminated in the final and tragic phase of his life.
Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions, Volume 1
by Frank HarrisBiography of Oscar Wilde, the British playwrite.
Oscar Wilde on Trial: The Criminal Proceedings, from Arrest to Imprisonment (Yale Law Library Series in Legal History and Reference)
by Joseph BristowThe most authoritative account of a pivotal event in legal and cultural history: the trials of Oscar Wilde on charges of “gross indecency” Among the most infamous prosecutions of a literary figure in history, the two trials of Oscar Wilde for committing acts of “gross indecency” occurred at the height of his fame. After being found guilty, Wilde spent two years in prison, emerged bankrupt, and died in a cheap hotel room in Paris a few years after his release. The trials prompted a new intolerance toward homosexuality: habits of male bonding that were previously seen as innocent were now viewed as a threat, and an association grew in the public mind between gay men and the arts.Oscar Wilde on Trial assembles accounts from a variety of sources, including official and private letters, newspaper accounts, and previously published (but very incomplete) transcripts, to provide the most accurate and authoritative account to date of events that were pivotal in both legal and cultural history.
The Oscars: The Secret History Of Hollywood's Academy Awards
by Anthony HoldenIt is just thirteen inches tall and weighs eight pounds, yet the Oscar has come to exert an hypnotic hold over film performers and audiences alike. This book uses the narrative story of an individual year as the basis of a much broader and historical canvas, to present a portrait of the film world today, and its personalities, finances and power-struggles. It also includes detailed lists of Oscar facts and figures, winners and losers. The author's other books include best-selling biographies of Prince Charles and Laurence Olivier.
Oscar's Books: A Journey Around the Library of Oscar Wilde
by Thomas WrightFor Wilde, as for many people, reading could be as powerful and transformative an experience as falling in love. He devoured books, talked books, luxuriated in books and lavished books on his friends- they played, too, a vital part in his seductions of young men. Oscar's Books tells the story of Wilde's life through his reading, from his childhood in Dublin, where he was nurtured on Celtic myth, Romantic poetry and Irish folklore; through his undergraduate years in which he built his intellect out of books; to prison, where his friends supplied him with literature which saved his sanity; to his final years in Paris where he consoled himself with old favourites such as Flaubert and Balzac.Fresh, utterly engaging and wholly original, Oscar's Books is an entirely new kind of biography.
Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activites, and the True Story Behind the List
by David CroweSpy, businessman, bon vivant, Nazi Party member, Righteous Gentile. This was Oskar Schindler, the controversial savior of almost 12,000 Jews during the Holocaust who struggled afterwards to rebuild his life and gain international recognition for his wartime deeds. Author David Crowe examines every phase of the subject's life in this landmark biography, presenting a figure of mythic proportions that one prominent Schindler Jew described as "an extraordinary man in extraordinary times.”
Ossie: King of Stamford Bridge (Mainstream Sport Ser. (PDF))
by Martin King Martin Knight Peter OsgoodIn a 16-year career spent with Chelsea and Southampton, goal-scoring legend Peter Osgood made 560 appearances, scoring 220 goals and winning two FA Cup-winner's medals. He was part of the victorious Chelsea side that defeated the mighty Real Madrid in the 1971 European Cup-Winners Cup final and is the last player to have scored in every round of the FA Cup, including the final.Ossie tells the story of the career and the extraordinary roller-coaster personal life of the man who spearheaded a team that made as many headlines off the field as on. The truth about the hard-drinking and hard-living antics of these Kings Road dandies - Hudson, Cooke, Baldwin and company - has never before been told. Osgood tells of his strained relationship with manager Dave Sexton, which resulted in his and other stars' departures, triggering a decline in Chelsea FC's fortunes that took some 20 years to reverse. He recounts his experience in the Mexico World Cup of 1970 and is brutally honest about the challenges and problems faced by ex-footballers as they attempt to adjust to life in mainstream society. Peter Osgood was no ordinary footballer and Ossie is no ordinary football autobiography. Like the King of Stamford Bridge himself was, this book is entertaining, outspoken and full of surprises.
Ossie's Dream: My Autobiography
by Ossie ArdilesOssie Ardiles is one of the most iconic footballers ever to have graced the game. After winning the World Cup with Argentina in 1978, Ossie became the first foreign player to make an impact in England, paving the way for the modern era of multinational teams. and was immortalised in Chas & Dave's hit record "Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way to Wembley)".In that unforgettable 1981 FA Cup Final, the silky skills of Ossie and fellow Argentine midfielder Ricky Villa inspired Spurs to their famous victory over Man City. He also helped Spurs to retain the trophy the following year, and to win the UEFA Cup in 1984, and even found time to star in the classic football film Escape to Victory with Bobby Moore, Pelé, Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone.Thirty years on from those glory days, Ossie has a unique perspective on the football world, through his long career both playing and in management, with the emphasis always on style and entertainment. He also talks about growing up under a military dictatorship, how he was torn between two countries owing to the outbreak of the Falklands War, which claimed the life of one of his cousins, and how that football world has changed over the decades.
The Other: How to Own Your Power at Work as a Woman of Color
by Daniela Pierre-BravoYou know that feeling of not belonging when you have so much to say at a work meeting? For women of color and children of immigrants, being the &“the other&” at work fuels an unyielding need to fit in. This false feeling of inadequacy in traditional workplaces causes you to adapt and develop &“a keep your head down&” or &“stay in your lane&” mentality in order to hold on to the job you&’ve worked so hard to attain. Sometimes that &“yes&” girl mentality can get you a seat at the table, but can lead to being overwhelmed, overworked, and overlooked when bigger roles come around.Bestselling author and MSNBC reporter Daniela-Pierre Bravo spent many years undocumented and in the shadows as an immigrant from Chile, working odd jobs to pay her way through school. Like many other women of color, immigrants, and children of immigrants she became an expert shape shifter in order to chameleon her way around professional environments that felt out of reach. When Daniela became a DACA recipient, she finally felt that she&’d made it, rising through the ranks in her career. But she quickly realized that no matter how much success she achieved, she always felt she had to prove her worth as &“the other.&”In The Other, Daniela shares her journey and those of other women to help you recognize your power through your own eyes instead of the traditional white gaze in the workplace. She drives you to reshape the way you think about career advancement without losing your sense of identity and how to use your differences as an advantage. Smart, revealing, and loaded with practical steps, The Other is a framework for how to effectively advocate for yourself, become your biggest believer, claim the spaces in your career that are rightfully yours, and create your own vision of success.
The Other: How to Own Your Power at Work as a Woman of Color
by Daniela Pierre-Bravo2023 Int'l Latino Book Award Honorable Mentions This important book focuses on how women of color, children of immigrants, and other minoritized groups are predisposed to workplace imposter syndrome—and charts a path forward for self-advocacy and advancement. For women of color and children of immigrants, who are the &“the other&” at work, there's a different threshold of belonging that creates a false feeling of inadequacy. It can lead to being overwhelmed, overworked, and overlooked. The Other shatters the unspoken expectations for you to stay in your lane and gives you the tools to build unshakable confidence and a career that excels--on your own terms. Bestselling author and MSNBC reporter Daniela-Pierre Bravo spent many years undocumented and in the shadows as an immigrant from Chile, working odd jobs to pay her way through school. Like many other women of color she became an expert shape shifter in order to chameleon her way around professional environments that felt out of reach. When Daniela became a DACA recipient, she finally felt that she&’d made it, rising through the ranks in her career. But she quickly realized that no matter how much success she achieved, she always felt she had to prove her worth as &“the other.&” In The Other, Daniela shares her journey and those of other women to help you recognize your power in the workplace outside of the white gaze. She drives you to reshape the way you think about career advancement without losing your sense of identity and helps you see how to use your differences as an advantage. Smart, revealing, and loaded with practical steps, The Other is a framework for how to effectively advocate for yourself, become your biggest believer, claim the spaces in your career that are rightfully yours.
The Other American The Life Of Michael Harrington
by Maurice Isserman"Most Americans first heard of Michael Harrington with the publication of The Other America, his seminal book on American poverty. Isserman expertly tracks Harrington's beginnings in the Catholic Worke"
The Other American The Life Of Michael Harrington
by Maurice Isserman"Most Americans first heard of Michael Harrington with the publication of The Other America, his seminal book on American poverty. Isserman expertly tracks Harrington's beginnings in the Catholic Worke"
The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama's Father
by Sally H. JacobsThe life story of the father of the most powerful elected leader in the world is an epic tale, one as daring as it was improbable.The father of the U.S. president, the first Barack Hussein Obama, was born in rural poverty in Kenya. His own father was a dominating figure who worked as a cook for the British colonists and broke with Luo tradition when he converted to the Muslim faith. Their household was a severe one from which Barack's mother fled in fear for her life. Despite such domestic turmoil, Barack was as fiercely smart as he was intrepid. Admitted to one of Kenya's premiere private schools, he was later thrown out for his defiant behavior.Adrift in the political churning of Kenya's pre-independence days, Barack attracted the interest of an American literacy worker who took him under her wing. By day, they worked on the literacy primers that would change the lives of illiterate Africans. By night, they often went dancing in the full glare of disapproval of those racially segregated times. She helped him prepare for college in America and in 1959 paid his first year's tuition at the University of Hawaii. The first African student on the UH campus, Barack stood out in many respects. One of those was the young white woman, Ann Dunham, whom he began to date. A year after they met, the couple had a son named Barack Hussein Obama II. Barack did not tell his young wife about the two children he had left behind in Kenya, nor did he tell university authorities about his family back home until much later. Luos were often polygamous and Obama saw no need to part with custom.At Harvard University, Barack joined the academic elite and prepared to take his place among the big men in newly independent Kenya. But Barack's experience at Harvard was emblematic of a life that seesawed between high hopes and cruel frustrations, many of them self-inflicted in drunken furies. Yet the charm, the intellectual brilliance, and the fierce pride in his vision of independent Kenya never flagged. He was a bold and reckless man, whose life courted controversy and ultimately veered fatally out of his control. He was heroic in his ambition, deeply flawed, and, extraordinarily, the father of an American president, the other Barack.
Other Colours: Essays And A Story (Vintage International Ser.)
by Orhan PamukFrom Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, and author of My Name is Red and Istanbul, comes a collection of immediate relevance and timeless value. His original pieces have been sympathetically revisited by the author, and the result is a new work of great narrative richness and intensity. Other Colours ranges from lyrical autobiography to essays on literature and culture, from humour to political analysis, from delicate evocations of his friendship with his daughter to provocative discussions of Eastern and Western art. Reflections on Pamuk's first passport, his first trip to Europe, his father's death, his political views, his recent court case, and the Istanbul earthquake share space with a collection of pieces on writers as various as Laurence Sterne and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Vladimir Nabokov and Mario Vargas Llosa. There are sections on Istanbul, New York - where Pamuk lived for two years - and on the writing of each of his novels. Interspersed among these are some of Pamuk's own illustrated works of art, and a short story 'Looking Out the Window'. My Father's Suitcase, Pamuk's 2006 Nobel Lecture, a brilliant illumination of what it means to be a writer, completes the selection from one of literature's most eminent and popular figures.
The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth
by Lillian NayderCatherine Hogarth, who came from a cultured Scots family, married Charles Dickens in 1836, the same year he began serializing his first novel. Together they traveled widely, entertained frequently, and raised ten children. In 1858, the celebrated writer pressured Catherine to leave their home, unjustly alleging that she was mentally disordered—unfit and unloved as wife and mother. Constructing a plotline nearly as powerful as his stories of Scrooge and Little Nell, Dickens created the image of his wife as a depressed and uninteresting figure, using two of her three sisters against her, by measuring her presumed weaknesses against their strengths. This self-serving fiction is still widely accepted.In the first comprehensive biography of Catherine Dickens, Lillian Nayder debunks this tale in retelling it, wresting away from the famous novelist the power to shape his wife's story. Nayder demonstrates that the Dickenses' marriage was long a happy one; more important, she shows that the figure we know only as "Mrs. Charles Dickens" was also a daughter, sister, and friend, a loving mother and grandmother, a capable household manager, and an intelligent person whose company was valued and sought by a wide circle of women and men.Making use of the Dickenses' banking records and legal papers as well as their correspondence with friends and family members, Nayder challenges the long-standing view of Catherine Dickens and offers unparalleled insights into the relations among the four Hogarth sisters, reclaiming those cherished by the famous novelist as Catherine's own and illuminating her special bond with her youngest sister, Helen, her staunchest ally during the marital breakdown. Drawing on little-known, unpublished material and forcing Catherine's husband from center stage, The Other Dickens revolutionizes our perception of the Dickens family dynamic, illuminates the legal and emotional ambiguities of Catherine's position as a "single" wife, and deepens our understanding of what it meant to be a woman in the Victorian age.
The Other Exile: The Remarkable Story of Fernão Lopes, the Island of St Helena and the meaning of human solitude
by Abdul Rahman AzzamThe first known inhabitant of St Helena – long before Napoleon – was a 16th-century Portuguese renegade. In 1506 Fernão Lopes, a member of his country’s minor nobility, travelled to Goa in search of honour and wealth. There he converted to Islam, married a Muslim, fought his former countrymen, and was eventually captured – his nose and hands publicly cut off for treachery. Eventually sailing for home, he jumped ship at St. Helena, becoming the island’s first inhabitant, with only a black cockerel for company. News of Lopes reached the King of Portugal. Picked up by a ship sent especially for him, Lopes so impressed the King, and the Pope in Rome, that he was granted one wish. He requested his return to St Helena. Based on brand new research by A R Azzam, author of the acclaimed Saladin (Longman, 2007), The Other Exile is at once a historical adventure story and a meditation on solitude. It is a story about redemption in one of the darkest periods in Europe and the tale of the haunting relationship between man and wild nature.