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  Eisenhower Babies - Growing Up...

  Ronnie Blair

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  Eisenhower Babies takes readers on a journey to a time when World War II memories were still relatively fresh, space exploration was becoming more than just fantastical subject matter for science fiction, and television had barged its way into American homes, taking up permanent residence in a hallowed spot in front of the living room sofa. Among the millions of Eisenhower Babies who burst on the scene from January 1953 to January 1961 was Ronnie Blair. His memoir of growing up in a Kentucky coal-mining community from the late 1950s to the early 1970s weaves history, popular culture, and geography into a nostalgic journey interspersed with tales of coal-strike tensions and humorous family adventures. Eisenhower Babies is a celebration of the eccentricities of 1960s small-town life, where a police officer might promise to give a four-year-old his gun once the officer ran out of bullets, a neighbor could return from a Florida vacation with a live baby alligator as a new pet, and the children of World War II veterans waged imaginary battles against Hitler’s treachery in their hillside backyards.

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  Kirby - King of Comics

  Mark Evanier

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  Filled with stunning artwork, this biography of comics pioneer Jack Kirby by an artist who worked closely with him is “a treasure” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). 
   
  “As a teenager, future television and comics writer [Mark] Evanier became an assistant to Jack Kirby, one of the foremost artists in the history of American comics. Kirby played a major role in shaping the superhero genre, not only through his innovative, dynamic artwork but through collaborating with Stan Lee to create classic Marvel characters like the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the X-Men. Evanier has now written this magnificently illustrated biography of his mentor. Rather than employing the academic prose that one might expect from an art book, Evanier, a talented raconteur, tells Kirby’s life story in an informal, entertaining manner . . . he brings Kirby’s personality vividly alive: a child of the Great Depression, a creative visionary who struggled most of his life to support his family. The book recounts how Kirby was insufficiently appreciated by clueless corporate executives and close-minded comics professionals. But the stunning artwork in this book, taken from private collections, makes the case for Kirby’s genius. A landmark work, this is essential reading for comics fans and those who want to better understand the history of the comics medium—or those who just want to enjoy Kirby’s incredible artwork.” —Publishers Weekly 
   
  Includes an introduction by Neil Gaiman

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  Ottoman Empire’s Greatest...

  Editors Charles River

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  In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the 4th century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity’s greatest empire. Constantinople would continue to serve as the capital of the Byzantine Empire even after the Western half of the Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century. Naturally, the Ottoman Empire would also use Constantinople as the capital of its empire after their conquest effectively ended the Byzantine Empire, and thanks to its strategic location, it has been a trading center for years and remains one today under the Turkish name of Istanbul.  
  The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople also played a decisive role in fostering the Renaissance in Western Europe. The Byzantine Empire’s influence had helped ensure that it was the custodian of various ancient texts, most notably from the ancient Greeks, and when Constantinople fell, Byzantine refugees flocked west to seek refuge in Europe. Those refugees brought books that helped spark an interest in antiquity that fueled the Italian Renaissance and essentially put an end to the Middle Ages altogether. 
  In the wake of taking Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire would spend the next few centuries expanding its size, power, and influence, bumping up against Eastern Europe and becoming one of the world’s most important geopolitical players. It was a rise that would not truly start to wane until the 19th century, and the Ottomans would maintain their empire until the end of World War I. 

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  The Book of Psalms

  Anonymous Anonymous

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  “It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed…” 
  C.S Lewis 
  The Book of Psalms is at the heart of the Christian Bible. The Psalmist cries out to God at times of despair, in supplication, in frustration and penitence but ultimately, in Praise. 
  Half of the Psalms were likely written by the Shepherd-King, David, a man described in the Bible as “a man after God’s own heart”. Indeed, the Psalms express a true heart cry to the Creator, with no pseudo religiosity, but with a refreshing honesty that has kept the Psalms at the core of worship for thousands of years.  
  Here they are read, in the King James Authorised translation, by Simon Hester, with original music, sparingly used, to enhance the readings.

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  Conflicted Scars - An Average...

  Justine Davis, Brian Kilrea

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  An indispensable guide to parents of hockey hopefuls
  		 
  At a time of great change in hockey, Justin Davis exposes the dark underbelly of the journey from the minors to the big leagues 
  		 
  Hockey culture: it’s a commonly used phrase inside the game, glorifying sacrifice, toughness, loyalty, and a sense of identity. Justin Davis viewed this culture as something he was lucky enough to experience. After all, he’d won a Memorial Cup after leading the tournament in scoring, and he’d been drafted by the Washington Capitals. “In my mind,” he says, “I was the normal one.” Unfortunately, after stepping outside the game, he began to recognize the racism, sexual abuse and bullying that was so deeply ingrained in the sport. And then, as his own children grew into teenagers, the curtain was pulled back, the memories came rushing forward, and he was horrified: “Why was I naked in a bus bathroom for four hours with seven teammates? What happened to my brain, and why can’t I remember the simplest things? How did I end up living in a basement where the strangers upstairs were clearly engaged in domestic abuse?”
  		 
  As it navigates the sport’s darkest corridors, Conflicted Scars shares the story of the common Canadian player and offers a guide for parents who need to know how and why a typical teenager with NHL dreams, from a small town, now lives anxiously, introvertedly, and battling emotional detachment.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Joseph Conrad, Leonid...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  A new century dawns, but old suffocating ideas live on.  Society seems wary of change until it is forced upon it.  But Europe’s authors seem to have no fear.  They move in relentless pursuit with an energy that must at some near future point challenge everything.   The World begins it short march to catastrophe. 
   
  1 - The Top 10 - The 1900's - The Europeans - An Introduction 
  2 - The Informer by Joseph Conrad 
  3 - Silence by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreyev 
  4 - Tomato Sauce by Hanns Heinz Ewers 
  5 - Putois by Anatole France 
  6 - The Devil's Horse by Ion Luca Caragiale 
  7 - How Treason Came to Russia by Rainer Maria Rilke 
  8 - The Duel by Nikolai Teleshov 
  9 - Cuchulain of Muirthemne. The Only Son of Aoife by Lady Augusta Gregory 
  10 - A Dry Spell by Eimar H Kvaran 
  11 - The Salvation of a Forsythe - Part 1 by John Galsworthy 
  12 - The Salvation of a Forsythe - Part 2 by John Galsworthy

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