D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

• 

  Mountain of Fame - Portraits in...

  John E. Wills

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Through biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities, John Wills displays the five-thousand-year sweep of Chinese history from the legendary sage emperors to the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. This unique introduction to Chinese history and culture uses more than twenty exemplary lives--biographies of China's most colorful and famous personalities--including those of statesmen, philosophers, poets, and rulers, to provide the focus for accounts of key historical trends and periods. What emerges is a provocative rendering of China's moral landscape, featuring characters who have resonated in the historical imagination as examples of villainy, heroism, wisdom, spiritual vision, political guile, and complex combinations of all of these. Investigating both the legends and the facts surrounding these figures, Wills reveals the intense interest of the Chinese in the brilliance and in the frail complexities of their heroes. Included, for instance, is a description of the frustrations and anxieties of Confucius, who emerges as a vulnerable human being trying to restore the world to the virtue and order of the sage kings. Wills recounts and questions the wonderfully shocking stories about the seventh-century Empress Wu, an astute ruler and shaper of an increasingly centralized monarchy, who has since assumed a prominent position in the Chinese tradition's rich gallery of bad examples--because she was a woman meddling in politics. The portrayal of Mao Zedong, which touches upon this leader's earthy personality and his reckless political visions, demonstrates the tendency of the Chinese not to divorce ideology from its human context: Maoism for them is a form of "objective" Marxism, inseparable from one man's life and leadership. Each of the twenty chapters provides a many-sided exploration of a "slice" of Chinese history, engaging the general reader in a deep and personal encounter with China over the centuries and today. The biographies repeatedly mirror the moral earnestness of the Chinese, the great value they place on the ruler-minister relationship, and their struggles with tensions among practicality, moral idealism, and personal authenticity. Culminating in a reflection on China's historical direction in the aftermath of Tiananmen Square, the biographies show the modern Chinese still inspired and frustrated by a complex heritage of moral fervor and political habits and preconceptions. As absorbing as it is wide ranging, this history is written for the general public curious about China and for the student beginning to study its rich cultural heritage. This new edition highlights important figures that have emerged in China since the book's initial publication and provides updated suggestions for further reading.

  Voir livre

• 

  Secret Baby Spencer

  Jule McBride

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Mystery woman with wedding gown zooms into town…Bachelor banker Seth Spencer was last seen closing his door after big-city gal Jenna Robinson entered. One eyewitness says not even the brisk autumn breeze could cool the heat between those two! But what's Jenna doing with a wedding gown in her car and a toddler on her hip? Rumor has it she and Seth were an item before he returned to Tyler. But this reporter knows she's hiding a big secret—one that'll get even bigger in the next nine months! What's our Seth going to do when he finds out she's engaged to another man but having Spencer's secret baby?

  Voir livre

• 

  Aging Artfully - 12 Profiles of...

  Amy Gorman

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Living to 100? "Old age is hot right now...they don't know what to do with us!!" says Isabel Ferguson, one of the women featured in Amy Gorman's "Aging Artfully, 12 Profiles of Visual & Performing Women Artists Aged 85-105." Based on interviews of inspirational artists, musicians and dancers 85-105 living with zest in the San Francisco Bay Area, Aging Artfully captures historical memories of the last century as the lives and creative processes of each artist unfold. Meet Dorothy Takahashi Toy, 89, an Asian-American, who tap danced her way into the white world and broke racial barriers, to Lily Hearst, a Viennese pianist who played scales and pieces daily until she died at 107. The 12 positive multi-ethnic role models portrayed in Aging Artfully have no time for complaining. The book -- with 100+ photos -- celebrates lives of the elders, it honors aging, challenges popular perceptions of being old and is certain to spark dialogue. One of the keys to successful aging is to "never give up." The vibrant women featured lead us to the realization that we all can uncover and act upon our own inner passions and follow them with open hearts. Well into our old age we can wake up each morning and live fully in the here and now. Bronze winner: 2007 Independent Publishing Book Awards (IPPYs), category of Women's Issues; 5 stars on Amazon. "Aging Artfully is a book to be treasured and... shared." Jim Cox, Midwest Book

  Voir livre

• 

  Eve's Bible - A Woman's Guide to...

  Sarah S. Forth

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “Uses textual and archaeological evidence to give substance to women’s roles in the Bible and women’s lives in the ancient Near East. . . . intriguing.” —Miriam Robbins Dexter, Ph.D., UCLA, author, Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book 
   
  Eve’s Bible is for every woman who has ever said, “I’ve always wanted to read the Bible but . . .” 
   
  Whatever the reason, Eve’s Bible helps readers explore the Old Testament regardless of religious affiliation. 
   
  Eve’s Bible challenges conventional ideas about women in the Bible, and shows readers how to draw upon their own truth to interpret the Bible in new and liberating ways. 
   
  With Eve’s Bible as their companion, readers will: 
   
  * Recognize and read the Old Testament’s literary building blocks 
   
  * Learn how women in the biblical era lived 
   
  * Learn why the biblical Deity is such a complex character 
   
  * Derive meaning from scripture by balancing left-brained inquiry with heart-felt intuition 
   
  *Become their own authority on the Bible 
   
  A friendly guide that anticipates readers’ questions and concerns, Eve’s Bible helps readers find their way through the Bible with intelligence and verve. 
   
  “A delightful and very helpful introduction to reading the Bible.” —Rosemary Radford Ruether, author of Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology 
   
  “Honest, brave and spirited.” —Jennifer Lawler, author of Dojo Wisdom: 100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person 
   
  “An enlightening and valuable read.” —Kristin Ohlson, author of Stalking the Divine 
   
  “A unique companion to the Scriptures, illuminating and provocative, full of wisdom, insight and good humor.” —Jonathan Kirsch, author of The Harlot by the Side of the Road

  Voir livre

• 

  Catkiller 3-2 - An Army Pilot...

  Raymond G. Caryl

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Catkiller 3-2 provides unique insights into the role of the tactical air controller, airborne (TACA) in I Corps as seen through the eyes of one of the pilots who flew low-flying, unarmed, single-engine aircraft in support of marine ground units during the Vietnam War. When Gen. William Westmoreland changed the marines' role in I Corps into a combat one, the Marines found themselves in need of more fixed wing aircraft to handle the TACA missions. The advance party of the Army's 220th Reconnaissance Aircraft Company (RAC) arrived in Vietnam in late June 1965 thinking they were going to be assigned to III Corps Tactical Zone. However, because of the shortage of existing Marine Birddogs, the 220th was immediately reassigned to I Corps and came under the operational control of the Marines. 
   
   
   
  No other work details the tactics, restrictions, aerial maneuvers, and dangers experienced by the army pilots and marine aerial observers flying these missions. As young lieutenants and captains, they had at their beck and call as much authority to request and control artillery and air strikes as ground commanders of much higher rank. Raymond G. Caryl provides unrivaled examples of the cultural mores, attitudes, and recreational activity of these young pilots and observers supporting the ground forces.

  Voir livre

• 

  Three Cups of Tea - One Man's...

  Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time—Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. 
   
  Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

  Voir livre