Ernest L. Veyu, "The Making of the Modern Artist: Stephen Dedalus and Will Brangwen"
English | 2012 | ISBN: 1443841811 | PDF | pages: 131 | 0.7 mb
The Making of the Modern Artist: Stephen Dedalus and Will Brangwen examines two fictional artists by James Joyce and D. H. Lawrence in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and D. H. Lawrence's The Rainbow respectively. It brings together Joyce and Lawrence in their common concern with the modern artist and modern art. Taking the two major artist characters of the two works, this study establishes that Joyce and Lawrence, irrespective of major background, educational, artistic and philosophical differences, converge on the person, character, artistic vision and working methods of the modern artist. This study makes little effort at looking at these fictional artists as alter egos of Joyce and Lawrence; it treats them as modern artists in their own right. It has tried to give them some-what a critical right of existence of their own.

The Maginot Line: The History of the Fortifications that Failed to Protect France from Nazi Germany During World War II by Charles River Editors
English | June 17, 2015 | ISBN: 1514381656 | 75 pages | EPUB | 1.98 Mb
*Includes pictures *Explains the origins of the Maginot Line, its construction, and the World War II fighting around it *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "We could hardly dream of building a kind of Great Wall of France, which would in any case be far too costly. Instead we have foreseen powerful but flexible means of organizing defense, based on the dual principle of taking full advantage of the terrain and establishing a continuous line of fire everywhere." - Andre Maginot As the power of Nazi Germany grew alarmingly during the 1930s, the French sought means to defend their territory against the rising menace of the Thousand-Year Reich. As architects of the most punitive measures in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I, the French government made natural targets for Teutonic retribution, so the Maginot Line, a series of interconnected strongpoints and fortifications running along much of France's eastern border, helped allay French fears of invasion. The popular legend of the Maginot Line portrays the frontier defenses as a useless "white elephant" project that was prompted by a gross misapprehension of warfare's new realities in the mid-20th century and quickly overwhelmed by the forceful advance of the German blitzkrieg. English idiom today invokes this vision of the Maginot Line as a metaphor for any defensive measure strongly believed in but actually useless. Indeed, usages such as "Maginot Line mentality," describing an overly defensive, reactive mindset, perpetuate the legend. As a French author and military liaison with the British, Andre Maurois, wrote about his disillusionment with the defensive line he originally enthusiastically supported: "We know now that the Maginot line-complex was a dangerous disease of the mind; but I publish this as it was written in January, 1940." In reality, however, the actual Maginot Line proved considerably more functional than memory has served. The true flaw in French military strategy during the opening days of World War II lay not in reliance on the Maginot fortifications but in the army's neglect to exploit the military opportunities the Line created. In other words, the border defense performed as envisioned, but the other military arms supported it insufficiently to halt the Germans. The French Army squandered the opportunity not because the Maginot Line existed but because they failed to utilize their own defensive plan properly. Some French commentary contributed to the legend, but the bloviating of politicians altered nothing regarding the Maginot Line's actual purpose or history: "General Maurin, defended the status quo in these words: '[H]ow could one think that we are still thinking about an offensive when we have spent billions to establish a fortified barrier? Would we be mad enough to advance beyond this barrier to undertake some adventure?' [...] but the Maginot Line had never been conceived as a sort of Great Wall of China sealing France off from the outside world. Its purpose was to free manpower for offensive operations elsewhere." (Jackson, 2004, 27). In fact, a forgotten battle in the southeast of France, where four French divisions (later reduced to three by the redeployment of one northwards in a futile effort to stem the German tide) held off 32 Italian divisions thanks to the defensive power of the so-called "Little Maginot Line of the Alps," proved the soundness of both the concept and engineering. Though the Italians suffered from poor equipment and the meddling incompetence of Mussolini's personal "leadership," the fighting on the Alpine front brilliantly highlighted the Maginot Line's success as a "force multiplier." French soldiers held off brave but futile Italian attacks at odds of 8:1 or 10:1 in favor of the Italians for five days until an armistice with the Axis put an end to this undeniable display of the Maginot Line's effectiveness.

Elizabeth Alexander, "The Light of the World: A Memoir"
English | 2016 | ISBN: 1455599867, 1455599875 | EPUB | pages: 240 | 1.1 mb
A deeply resonant memoir for anyone who has loved and lost, from acclaimed poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elizabeth Alexander.

Michael Leahy, "The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers"
English | 2017 | ISBN: 0062360574, 0062360566 | EPUB | pages: 512 | 0.7 mb
Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year

Herman Wouk, "The Language God Talks"
English | 2011 | ISBN: 0316078441 | EPUB | pages: 209 | 0.6 mb
"More years ago than I care to reckon up, I met Richard Feynman." So begins The Language God Talks, Herman Wouk's gem on navigating the divide between science and religion. In one rich, compact volume, Wouk draws on stories from his life as well as on key events from the 20th century to address the eternal questions of why we are here, what purpose faith serves, and how scientific fact fits into the picture. He relates wonderful conversations he's had with scientists such as Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, Freeman Dyson, and Steven Weinberg, and brings to life such pivotal moments as the 1969 moon landing and the Challenger disaster.

The Kind Leader: A Practical Guide to Eliminating Fear, Creating Trust, and Leading with Kindness
English | 2022 | ISBN: 0367693437 | 213 Pages | EPUB | 6 MB
Kindness and leadership aren't often synonymous. Ask someone to describe "good leadership" to you and you will hear many adjectives used: authentic, bold, challenging, charismatic, decisive, empowering, fearless, goal-oriented, humble, inspiring, original, passionate, role-model, strategic and transparent, to name of a few. And though there are many more that come to mind, kindness isn't one of them. And here's the problem with that.

Sharon Zukin, "The Innovation Complex: Cities, Tech, and the New Economy"
English | 2020 | pages: 312 | ISBN: 0190083832, 0197621600 | PDF | 12,3 mb
You hear a lot these days about "innovation and entrepreneurship" and about how "good jobs" in tech will save our cities. Yet these common tropes hide a stunning reality: local lives and fortunes are tied to global capital. You see this clearly in metropolises such as San Francisco and New York that have emerged as "superstar cities." In these cities, startups bloom, jobs of the future multiply, and a meritocracy trained in digital technology, backed by investors who control deep pools of capital, forms a new class: the tech-financial elite. In The Innovation Complex, the eminent urbanist Sharon Zukin shows the way these forces shape the new urban economy through a rich and illuminating account of the rise of the tech sector in New York City. Drawing from original interviews with venture capitalists, tech evangelists, and economic development officials, she shows how the ecosystem forms and reshapes the city from the ground up.

Linda Benson, "The Ili Rebellion: Muslim Challenge to Chinese Authority in Xingjiang, 1944-49 "
English | ISBN: 0873325095 | | 306 pages | PDF | 4 MB
In 1944 Moslem forces in China's westernmost province of Xinjiang rose against the Chinese authorities and succeeded in establishing a small independent Islamic state - the East Turkestan Republic. Based on newly available archival material, this book describes the Moslem challenge to Chinese rule and documents the Nationalist government's response to newly awakened Turkic-Moslem nationalism on China's most remote and politically sensitive north-western frontier. With this book, Linda Benson aims to break new ground in the study of Sino-Soviet relations and especially of the policies of Chinese governments toward their national minorities.

The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The New York-New Jersey Campaign by Charles River Editors
English | June 12, 2015 | ISBN: 1514319594 | 75 pages | EPUB | 2.47 Mb
*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the fighting around New York City *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents After the siege of Boston forced the British to evacuate that city in March 1776, Continental Army commander George Washington suspected that the British would move by sea to New York City, the next logical target in an attempt to end a colonial insurrection. He thus rushed his army south to defend the city. Washington guessed correctly, but it would be to no avail. Unlike Boston, New York City's terrain featured few defensible positions. The city lacked a high point from which to launch a siege, as the peninsula of Boston was fortunate to have. Moreover, Washington wasn't sure defending the city was necessary, hoping that an expedition launched toward Quebec like the one Benedict Arnold had led in late 1775 would keep the British away from New York anyway. However, Congress thought otherwise, and demanded that Washington defend New York. Washington thus did what he was told, and it nearly resulted in the army's demise. In the summer of 1776, the British conducted the largest amphibious expedition in North America's history at the time, landing over 20,000 troops on Long Island. British General William Howe, who had led the British at Bunker Hill and would later become commander in chief of the armies in North America, easily captured Staten Island, which Washington was incapable of defending without a proper navy. Washington's army attempted to fight, but Washington was badly outmaneuvered, and his army was nearly cut off from escape. The withdrawal across New York City was enormously disorderly, with many of Washington's troops so scared that they deserted. Others were sick as a result of the dysentery and smallpox plaguing the Continental Army in New York. In what was arguably the worst defeat of the Revolution, Washington was ashamed, and he also felt betrayed, by both his troops and Congress. To escape from New York, Washington led a tactical retreat across the East River and off Long Island in the middle of the night without British knowledge. This retreat prevented the annihilation of the colonial army in New York, but with Washington being pushed west across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania, Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia. And with this string of crucial British successes in 1776, the Revolution was on the brink of failure. The Continental Army, now in Pennsylvania, had lost over 5,000 men during its retreat through New York and New Jersey and now had fewer than 5,000 able soldiers. That winter, one of the men in camp, Thomas Paine, would write The American Crisis, beginning with the famous words, "These are the times that try men's souls." However, Washington would famously cross the Delaware River on Christmas night to attack British forces at Trenton, and he was able to compel the British to suspend the winter campaign after fighting around Princeton. Nonetheless, in the early months of 1777, the colonists were in dire straits and the British were Descriptionting a campaign in the coming months to put down the revolution once and for all. The Greatest Revolutionary War Battles: The New York-New Jersey Campaign comprehensively covers the events that led up to the campaign, the fighting itself, and the aftermath of the conflict. Along with maps and pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the campaign like never before, in no time at all.

The Great Sex Rescue: The Lies You've Been Taught and How to Recover What God Intended by Sheila Wray Gregoire
English | March 2, 2021 | ISBN: 1540900827 | 213 pages | PDF | 6.36 Mb
What if it's not your fault that sex is bad in your marriage?