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books tagged “Non-Fiction” (non-fiction / non fiction)
books tagged “Non-Fiction”
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All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in Indiaby Rachel Manija BrownISBN 1594865264 (1-59486-526-4)
Softcover, Rodale Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in India'Book summary:[via]When she was seven, Rachel Manija Brown's parents, post-60s hippies, uprooted her from her native California and moved to an ashram in a cobra-ridden, drought-stricken spot in India. Cavorting through these pages are some wonderfully eccentric characters: the ashram head, Meher Baba, best known as the guru to Pete Townshend of The Who; the librarian, who grunts and howls nightly outside Rachel's window; a holy madman, who shuffles about collecting invisible objects; a middle-aged male virgin, who begs Rachel to critique his epic spiritual poems; and a delusional Russian who arrives at the ashram proclaiming he is Meher Baba reincarnated.
Astutely observed and laugh-out-loud funny, this astonishing debut memoir--now available in paperback--signals the arrival of a major new literary talent. The hardcover edition was named a Book Sense Pick and was selected as a Book of the Week by BN.com's Book Club.More editions of All the Fishes Come Home to Roost: An American Misfit in India:
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The Americanization of Benjamin Franklinby Gordon S. WoodISBN 159420019X (1-59420-019-X)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'Book summary:From "the preeminent historian of the Revolution" (Jonathan Yardley), a groundbreaking study, many years in the making, of Benjamin Franklin the man, Benjamin Franklin the myth, and the roots of American character.
Central to America's idea of itself is the character of Benjamin Franklin. We all know him, or think we do: In recent works and in our inherited conventional wisdom, he remains fixed in place as a genial polymath and self-improver who was so very American that he is known by us all as the first American.
The problem with this beloved notion of Franklin's quintessential Americanness, Gordon Wood shows us in this marvelous, revelatory book, is that it's simply not true. And it blinds us to the no less admirable or important but far more interesting man Franklin really was and leaves us powerless to make sense of the most crucial events of his life. Indeed, thinking of Franklin as the last American would be less of a hindrance to understanding many crucial aspects of his life-his preoccupation with becoming a gentleman; his longtime loyalty to the Crown and burning ambition to be a player in the British Empire's power structure; the personal character of his conversion to revolutionary; his reasons for writing the Autobiography; his controversies with John and Samuel Adams and with Congress; his love of Europe and conflicted sense of national identity; the fact that his death was greeted by mass mourning in France and widely ignored in America.
But Franklin did become the Revolution's necessary man, Wood shows, second behind George Washington. Why was his importance so denigrated in his own lifetime and his image so distorted ever since? Ironically, Franklin's diplomacy in France, which was essential to American victory, was the cause of the suspicion that clouded his good name at home-and also the stage on which the "first American" persona made its debut. The consolidation of this mirage of Franklin would await the early nineteenth century, though, when the mask he created in his posthumously published Autobiography proved to be the model the citizens of a striving young democracy needed.
The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin is a landmark work, a magnificent fresh vision of Franklin's life and reputation, filled with profound insights into the Revolution and into the emergence of America's idea of itself. [via]More editions of The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin:
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The Areas Of My Expertiseby John HodgmanISBN 1594482225 (1-59448-222-5)
Softcover, Riverhead Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Areas Of My Expertise'Book summary:With his Daily Show appearances and his "I'm a PC" Apple ads, John Hodgman has only become more famous since the hardcover edition of his all-you-need compendium of facts, The Areas of My Expertise was released. He has also become smarter. To reflect this, the paperback edition of The Areas of My Expertise has been expanded to include 100 new hobo names and new, additional complete world knowledge. John Hodgman and his fur-hatted associate, Jonathan, have prepared an exclusive video for Amazon customers explaining the above.
Click here or on the image above to watch John Hodgman describe the only book you'll ever need.More editions of The Areas Of My Expertise:
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The Art Of Worldly Wisdomby Baltasar Gracian Y Morales, Willis Barnstone, Joseph JacobsISBN 1590301412 (1-59030-141-2)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Art Of Worldly Wisdom'Book summary:This perennially popular book of advice on how to achieve personal and professional success is valued for its timeless insights on how to make one's way in the world. Written in the seventeenth century by a Spanish Jesuit scholar, these teachings are strikingly modern in tone and address universal concerns such as friendship, morality, managing emotions, and effective leadership. The Art of Worldly Wisdom is for anyone seeking to combine ethical behavior with worldly success.
This edition of The Art of Worldly Wisdom includes an informative introduction by Willis Barnstone, Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at Indiana University. Barnstone, a noted translator, critic, and poet, explores Gracián's background and places him within his historical and literary context. [via]More editions of The Art Of Worldly Wisdom:
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The Art of Worldly Wisdomby Balthasar Gracian, Willis Barnstone, Joseph JacobsISBN 1590304020 (1-59030-402-0)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Art of Worldly Wisdom'Book summary:This perenially popular book of advice on how to achieve personal and professional success is valued for its timeless insights on how to make one's way in the world. Written in the seventeenth century by a Spanish Jesuit scholar, the teachings are strikingly modern in tone and address universal concerns such as friendship, morality, effective leadership, and how to manage one's emotions. The Art of Worldly Wisdom is for anyone seeking to combine ethical behavior with worldly success.
This edition includes an introduction by Willis Barnstone, former Distinguished Professor of Spanish and Comparative Literature at Indiana University. Barnstone, a noted translator, critic, and poet, explores Gracian's background and places him within his historical and literary context. Like Sun Tzu's Art of War, Machiavelli's Prince, and Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, Gracian's Art of Worldly Wisdom is one of those rare books that serve as enlightening guides and companions for life. [via]More editions of The Art of Worldly Wisdom:
Bad Bloodby Lorna SageISBN 1841150428 (1-84115-042-8)
Hardcover, Fourth Estate
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Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Travels In Search Of Canadaby Will FergusonISBN 184195652X (1-84195-652-X)
Softcover, Canongate Books Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Travels In Search Of Canada'Book summary:He may not know it--and he may not even want the job--but author and humourist Will Ferguson is poised to replace Pierre Berton as national keeper of the facts. Think about it: both men are clearly obsessed with Canada, its history and wrinkles and seams. Both conjure characters from the past to help explain our present. Both have forgotten more about this country than most of us will ever know. The key difference between them, if a metaphor might be permitted, is that while Berton tends to move vertically through the annals of Canada, Ferguson moves horizontally. And he's funnier. So it is with Ferguson's travel memoir, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. The author grabs us by the hand for a guided coast-to-coast tour of the country, peppering each stop with factoids. In Alberta, we learn that boreal forest covers one-third of our overall landscape. On a polar bear excursion in Manitoba, we discover that the Arctic fox has the warmest, thickest fur on earth. And at Lake Superior, we are reminded that half the world's fresh water supply resides here. But Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is more than just a grocery list of information. As with his bestselling How to Be a Canadian, Ferguson attempts to capture the essence of Canada, this time through topography and history. Take this passage lifted from his visit to Newfoundland. "This wasn't Ireland. It was Ireland lost. And Ireland found. It was Ireland cast adrift and washed up on a cold island. It was Ireland reconstructed, like a portrait assembled by someone working from memory, getting the mood right if not the details." Beauty Tips gets the mood and the details just right, with some welcome conjecture and lots on winking humour thrown in. Required reading for Canucks and wannabes. --Kim Hughes [via]
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The Book of the Damnedby Charles FortISBN 1596050276 (1-59605-027-6)
Softcover, Cosimo Inc
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Boy Meets Girlby Joshua HarrisISBN 1590521676 (1-59052-167-6)
Softcover, Multnomah Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Boy Meets Girl'Book summary:Joshua Harris follows up his bestselling I Kissed Dating Goodbye with Boy Meets Girl, the story of how he met and married his wife, Shannon. Where Harris's first book encouraged readers to throw off modern ideas of romantic fixation, Boy Meets Girl goes to the next level and urges single Christian men and women to pursue courtship, and ultimately marriage, thoughtfully and prayerfully. Knowing that many readers will balk at the idea of premeditated courtship, Harris insists that dating should not be emotional recreation but rather a careful decision rooted in obedience to God. While the anecdotes used to reveal true-to-life scenarios about dating pitfalls are somewhat elementary (and geared to those in their 20s), Harris succeeds in hammering home the point that obedience to God's word, selfless love, community, purity, and satisfaction in God are the most important aspect of any relationship. The last section of the book is particularly practical, discussing forgiveness of past sexual sin, questions to ask before tying the knot, and how an understanding of our sinful nature can lead to conflict resolution. For Harris's mere twentysomething years of life experience, his maturity and devotion to God are sincere evidence that he has indeed practiced what he has preached, resulting in a passionate relationship with the love of his life. --Jill Heatherly [via]
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A Brief History of Everythingby Ken WilberISBN 1590304500 (1-59030-450-0)
Softcover, Shambhala Pubns
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Brief History of Everything'Book summary:This account of men and women's place in a universe of sex and gender, self and society, spirit and soul is written in question-and-answer format, making it both readable and accessible. Wilber offers a series of original views on many topics of current controversy, including the gender wars, multiculturalism, modern liberation movements, and the conflict between various approaches to spirituality. [via]
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The Classical Greeksby Michael GrantISBN 1842124471 (1-84212-447-1)
Softcover, Phoenix Pr
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Collected Works of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeISBN 1853263974 (1-85326-397-4)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Collected Works of Oscar Wilde'Book summary:Wilde's works are suffused with his aestheticism, brilliant craftsmanship, legendary wit and, ultimately, his tragic muse. He wrote tender fairy stories for children employing all his grace, artistry and wit, of which the best-known is The Happy Prince. Counterpoints to this were his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which shocked and outraged many readers of his day, and his stories for adults which exhibited his fascination with the relations between serene art and decadent life. Wilde took London by storm with his plays, particularly his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest. His essays - in particular De Profundis- and his Ballad of Reading Gaol, both written after his release from prison, strikingly break the bounds of his usual expressive range. His other essays and poems are all included in this comprehensive collection of the works of one of the most exciting writers of the late nineteenth century. [via]
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Coming Furyby E. B. Long, Bruce CattonISBN 1842122924 (1-84212-292-4)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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The Coming of the Third Reichby Richard EvansISBN 1594200041 (1-59420-004-1)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Coming of the Third Reich'Book summary:From one of the world's most distinguished historians, a magisterial new reckoning with Hitler's rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany.
In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How then can we explain the fact that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would be in the hands of a violent, racist, extremist political movement that would lead it and all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin? There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. With many people angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin; a state undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the democratic order introduced in 1918; beset by the growing extremism of voters prey to panic about the increasing popularity of communism; home to a tiny but quite successful Jewish community subject to widespread suspicion and resentment, Germany proved to be fertile ground in which Nazism's ideology of hatred could take root.
The first book of what will ultimately be a complete three-volume history of Nazi Germany, The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian's art and the book by which all others on this subject will be judged. [via]More editions of The Coming of the Third Reich:
Coming of Age: Growing Up in the Twentieth Centuryby Studs TerkelISBN 1595581723 (1-59558-172-3)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yoga Illustratedby Eve Adamson, Joan Budilovsky, Carolyn FlynnISBN 1592574882 (1-59257-488-2)
Softcover, Alpha Books
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The Complete Illustrated Stories, Plays & Poems of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeISBN 185152102X (1-85152-102-X)
Hardcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Illustrated Stories, Plays & Poems of Oscar Wilde'Book summary:He was brilliant, flamboyant, and unconventional, one of the great figures of his--or any other--age. Although Oscar Wilde's reputation now rests primarily on his sparkling, sophisticated plays with their razor-sharp wit, his body of work goes far beyond even those. Here, in one volume, is the sum of his artistic genius: all his stories, plays, fairy tales, and poems, complete with period illustrations. To find evidence of Wilde's theatrical savvy, one need look no further than The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband, both of which satirize and humorously highlight the hypocrisy of Victorian life. The Picture of Dorian Gray captures a profound knowledge of the depths to which the human soul can plunge, and in the years since it was written, its final moments have lost none of their power. In his fairy stories, including The Happy Prince and Other Tales, written for his own children, Wilde reveals heights of tenderness and beauty. There are classics like the Canterville Ghost and more-more than 850 pages worth! 864 pages (50 in color), 5 3/4 x 8 1/4.[via]More editions of The Complete Illustrated Stories, Plays & Poems of Oscar Wilde:
Complete Works of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeISBN 1842050664 (1-84205-066-4)
Hardcover, Cpg Inc
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Concise Usage and Abusageby PartridgeISBN 185326346X (1-85326-346-X)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Concise Usage and Abusage'Book summary:This work examines the best and worst uses of English in order to help speakers, writers and thinkers express themselves more clearly. It looks at archism, echoism, obscurity and tautology, and should be useful as reference book. [via]
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The Confessions of St. Augustine: Modern English Versionby Augustine, E. B. PuseyISBN 160206010X (1-60206-010-X)
Hardcover, Cosimo Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Confessions of St. Augustine: Modern English Version'Book summary:Aurelius Augustinus, aka SAINT AUGUSTINE (354-430) was bishop of Hippo, today called Bona, in Algeria. Before his conversion to Christianity, however, he lead a wild and licentious youth in Carthage and later studied philosophy for years in Milan. His Confessions, in which he begs forgiveness from God for his sins and sets himself entirely to devotion to God, is not only a foundational work of Western theology, it is also one of the earliest autobiographies, offering keen insight into the workings of the medieval mind. ALSO AVAILABLE FROM COSIMO CLASSICS: Saint Augustine's "The City of God" Translator and British clergyman EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY (1800-1882) was one of the most influential figures in the Anglican church in the 19th century, formulated theology and doctrine that radically altered the practice of Christianity in England. [via]
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The Courtesans: The Demi-Monde in Nineteenth-Century Franceby Joanna RichardsonISBN 1842120999 (1-84212-099-9)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Courtesans: The Demi-Monde in Nineteenth-Century France'Book summary:Richardson pens a colorful portrait of twelve of the most famous courtesans; women who encrusted bathroom taps with jewels, fought duels in the Bois de Boulogne, scandalized society, influenced the press and politics, and ensnared the husbands and lovers of the most beautiful women in Paris.[via]
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Culpeper's Complete Herbal: A Book of Natural Remedies of Ancient IllsISBN 1853263451 (1-85326-345-1)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc
Find This BookBook summary:From Amara Dulcis to Yarrow, All-Heal to Viper's Bugloss, Culpeper's Complete Herbal and English Physician Enlarged offers remedies for all ills known to Seventeenth century society. Together with the alphabetical section on herbs, their provenance and properties, there is The English Physician and Family Dispensary, which provides an astrologo-physical discourse of the human virtues in the body of man. Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) studied at Cambridge and became an apothecary, physician and astrologer in London. Whilst only the imprudent would follow his dictates today without question, the Herbal remains a fascinating historical treatise, and stands as a monument to botanical and medical science. [via]
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A Dictionary of Dreamsby Gustavus Hindman MillerISBN 1853263257 (1-85326-325-7)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc
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The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himselfby Daniel BoorstinISBN 1842122274 (1-84212-227-4)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Discoverers: A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself'Book summary:Perhaps the greatest book by one of our greatest historians, The Discoverers is a volume of sweeping range and majestic interpretation. To call it a history of science is an understatement; this is the story of how humankind has come to know the world, however incompletely ("the eternal mystery of the world," Einstein once said, "is its comprehensibility"). Daniel J. Boorstin first describes the liberating concept of time--"the first grand discovery"--and continues through the age of exploration and the advent of the natural and social sciences. The approach is idiosyncratic, with Boorstin lingering over particular figures and accomplishments rather than rushing on to the next set of names and dates. It's also primarily Western, although Boorstin does ask (and answer) several interesting questions: Why didn't the Chinese "discover" Europe and America? Why didn't the Arabs circumnavigate the planet? His thesis about discovery ultimately turns on what he calls "illusions of knowledge." If we think we know something, then we face an obstacle to innovation. The great discoverers, Boorstin shows, dispel the illusions and reveal something new about the world.
Although The Discoverers easily stands on its own, it is technically the first entry in a trilogy that also includes The Creators and The Seekers. An outstanding book--one of the best works of history to be found anywhere. --John J. Miller [via]
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Don't Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes from the World's Greatest Chefsby Kimberly Witherspoon, Andrew FriedmanISBN 1596910704 (1-59691-070-4)
Hardcover, Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
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The Education of a Coachby David HalberstamISBN 1597221449 (1-59722-144-9)
Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc
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The Fall of Baghdadby Jon Lee AndersonISBN 1594200343 (1-59420-034-3)
Hardcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Fall of Baghdad'Book summary:The press coverage of the second Iraq war was notable for the American military's program assigning journalists to be "embedded" with specific military units. While this afforded more personal coverage, the reportage was inherently narrow, missing out on the larger perspective of a sprawling and complex situation and telling stories only from the American troops' point of view. Such is not the case in The Fall of Baghdad, journalist Jon Lee Anderson's harrowing account of the Americans' capture of the Iraqi capital. Anderson was not embedded but on the ground in Baghdad and recounts the increasing anxiety and dread of Iraqi citizens as they try to prepare as best they can for a seemingly inevitable invasion. Not only were the Iraqis fearing for their lives, dwelling as they did in what they knew to be the largest target city in the nation, they also lived in fear of Saddam Hussein while he was still in power and so projected a facade of desperate optimism and unfailing loyalty. Anderson chronicles the collapse of this feigned allegiance and the Iraqi people's joy of being free of Saddam but also reports hints of the kind of anti-American sentiment that would come to deadly fruition in the months following the end of conventional fighting. Additionally, Anderson tells of the journalists covering the war, who struggled with the conflict between their drive to tell the story of what was happening and their desire to stay alive. Anderson keeps the scope of his book limited to the situation within Baghdad, omitting any mention of the larger political issues related to the war, which means that the book is not only non-partisan and highly focused but also incredibly claustrophobic, capturing the feeling of being trapped in a city about to be devastated. --John Moe [via]
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Fat Girl: A True Storyby Judith MooreISBN 1594630097 (1-59463-009-7)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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The Gateby Francois BizotISBN 1843430568 (1-84343-056-8)
Softcover, Harvill
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Gate'Book summary:French ethnologist Francois Bizot's The Gate is a unique insight into the rise of the Khmer Rouge. In 1971 Bizot was studying ancient Buddhist traditions and living with his khmer partner and daughter in a small village in the environs of the Angkor temple complex. The Khmer Rouge was fighting a guerilla war in rural Cambodia and during a routine visit to a nearby temple, Bizot and his two khmer colleagues were captured by them and imprisoned deep in the jungle on suspicion of working for the CIA. On trial for his life, over the next three months Bizot developed a strong relationship with his captor, Comrade Douch, who would later become the Khmer Rouge's chief interrogator and commandant of the horrifying Tuol Sleng prison where thousands of captives were tortured prior to execution. The portrait Bizot gives of the young schoolteacher-turned revolutionary and their interaction is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying.
Finally freed after Douch had pleaded his case with the leadership, Bizot became the only western captive of the Khmer Rouge ever to be released alive, but his story does not end there. On his return to Phnom Penh, due to his fluency in khmer, he was appointed interpreter between the occupying forces and the remaining western nationals holed up in the French embassy. As the interlocutor at the eponymous gate, he relates with dreadful resignation the moment when the khmer nationals in the compound were ordered out by the Khmer Rouge forces for "resettlement".
Bizot's is a touching and gripping account of one of the darkest moments in modern history and it is told with a unique voice. As a Cambodian resident, a lover of Cambodia and a fluent khmer speaker, Bizot shows an understanding of the prevailing mood in the country that other western commentators have failed to capture effectively, while as a western academic he is able to see the forces at work and how Cambodia fits into the bigger picture of South East Asian conflict. What emerges is a tale of a land plunged into insanity and Bizot tells it like a eulogy for a dead friend and a confrontation of old demons. The Gate is a stunning book and a must for anyone interested in this grim period of Asian history. --Duncan Thomson [via]
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The Ghost Mapby Steven JohnsonISBN 1594489254 (1-59448-925-4)
Hardcover, Riverhead Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ghost Map'Book summary:Steven Johnson, bestselling author of Everything Bad is Good for You, is fantastically gifted, and anyone who doubts it need only consider this: in The Ghost Map, Johnson manages to make filth, overpopulation, feces and death the cornerstones of one of the year's snappiest page-turners. On the simplest level, The Ghost Map is the true-life tale of the cholera scourge that slammed London in 1854 and the two passionate and whip-smart men who ferreted out its cause. But it's also a biography, a detective saga, a horror story, a history lesson, a sociological rumination on cities, an unlikely but gripping celebration of the modern sewer system and a vivid portrait of historic London life.
"London's underground market of scavenging had its own system of rank and privilege, and near the top were the night-soil men," Johnson observes. "Like the beloved chimney sweeps of Mary Poppins, the night-soil men worked as independent contractors at the very edge of the legitimate economy, though their labor was significantly more revolting than the foraging of the mud-larks and toshers."City landlords hired the men to remove the "night soil" from the overflowing cesspools of their buildings. The collecting of human excrement was a venerable occupation; in medieval times they were called rakers. [But] the work conditions could be deadly: in 1326, an ill-fated laborer by the name of Richard the Raker fell into a cesspool and literally drowned in human shit."
Nice. Clearly much more than just a dry recitation of data--though the depth of Johnson's research is obvious--The Ghost Map is a hair-raiser that cooks from page one. A big reason is Johnson's ability to personify and animate what he terms "the invisible kingdom of microscopic bacteria," transforming cholera into a nefarious three-dimensional villain with a role to play and zest for the part.
His work as biographer also impresses. Johnson gives us two protagonists all but forgotten by history who really should be feted: Dr. John Snow, who 150 years ago in an era of superstition and tenaciously held scientific notions, managed to work out the simple equation that excrement + drinking water = death. We also meet Reverend Henry Whitehead who similarly helped to crack the cholera riddle by flat-footing it through Soho, interviewing residents and survivors and eventually coming to believe that Snow was onto something with his water-borne disease theory. (The prevailing wisdom of the day held that disease was airborne and linked to smell).
It is no exaggeration to say that Snow's efforts changed the world. Ditto engineer Joseph Bazalgette, whose sprawling, visionary English sewer system Johnson likens in stature and scope to the Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn Bridge. The Ghost Map is a great, great book, stuffed with cool factoids and told by a writer so conversant in his topic that it plays like an exquisite yarn shared over friendly beers. --Kim Hughes [via]More editions of The Ghost Map:
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wadeby Ann FesslerISBN 1594200947 (1-59420-094-7)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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Grimm's Fairy Talesby Jacob W. Grimm, Wilhelm K. GrimmISBN 1853261017 (1-85326-101-7)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Grimm's Fairy Tales'Book summary:The Brothers Grimm rediscovered a host of fairy tales, telling of princes and princesses in their castles, witches in their towers and forests, of giants and dwarfs, of fabulous animals and dark deeds. This selection of their folk tales was made and translated by Lucy Crane, and includes firm favourites such as Rapunzel, The Goose Girl, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and Snow White. It is illustrated throughout by Walter Crane's charming line drawings. [via]
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Grimm's Fairy Talesby Wilhelm Grimm, Elizabeth Dalton, Brothers Grimm, Ludwig Emil GrimmISBN 1593080565 (1-59308-056-5)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Grimm's Fairy Tales'Book summary:[via]Grimm's Fairy Tales, by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:With the words Once upon a time, the Brothers Grimm transport readers to a timeless realm where witches, giants, princesses, kings, fairies, goblins, and wizards fall in love, try to get rich, quarrel with their neighbors, and have magical adventures of all kindsand in the process reveal essential truths about human nature.
When Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm set out to collect stories in the early 1800s, their goal was not to entertain children but to preserve Germanic folkloreand the hard life of European peasants was reflected in the tales they discovered. However, once the brothers saw how the stories entranced young readers, they began softening some of the harsher aspects to make them more suitable for children.
A cornerstone of Western culture since the early 1800s, Grimms Fairy Tales is now beloved the world over. This collection of more than 120 of the Grimms best tales includes such classics as Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Grethel, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, and The Frog Prince, as well as others that are no less delightful.
Elizabeth Dalton is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Barnard College. She has published fiction and criticism in The New Yorker, Partisan Review, Commentary, and The New York Times Book Review.More editions of Grimm's Fairy Tales:
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The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addictby William LeithISBN 1592401554 (1-59240-155-4)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Hungry Years: Confessions of a Food Addict'Book summary:Combining the revealing cultural commentary of Fast Food Nation with the visceral insights of A Million Little Pieces, this is the story of a journalists struggle with weight, and an unflinching look at our own culture of fat and thin.
"I thought: if I can understand the despair, my own and everybodys elses, I could write the storyof why we hate fat, of why we are fat, of why, in some perverse way, we want to be fat. And, most importantly, what we can do to stop being so fat. Obesity is the essential human problem in a nutshellwe try to make life easy by giving ourselves access to resources, and then we make life difficult by overconsuming those resources. We have more of everything than weve ever had, and yet we feel emptier."
While on assignment to interview Dr. Robert Atkins, journalist William Leith realized that he could not report on diet alone; he wanted desperately to develop a deeper understanding of his relationship with food and the pathological cravings that led him (and millions of others) to become dangerously overweight.
His Atkins interview led him to probe not only the link between carbohydrates and addiction, but also how our relationship with food has changed over the last few decades in light of economic, technological, and cultural changes in the world, as well as our cultural obsession with our bodies. Combining the science of food addiction with memoir, humor, and sociological insights, The Hungry Years is a book that will force us to look at our culture of consumption in a new way. [via]
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I Have Chosen to Stay And Fightby Margaret ChoISBN 1594482209 (1-59448-220-9)
Softcover, Riverhead Books
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The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legendsby Ronan CoghlanISBN 1852306475 (1-85230-647-5)
Softcover, Houghton Mifflin
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends'Book summary:For more than 500 years, the epic adventures of King Arthur and his knights have been one of the most potent forces in English literature. This lavishly illustrated volume examines all the different strands of the Arthurian myth, bringing together a wide variety of materials, fully complemented by paintings, engravings, maps, and family trees. [via]
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Illustrated Tao Te Chingby Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsay, Man-Ho Kwok, Kwok-Lap ChanISBN 1843336278 (1-84333-627-8)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Illustrated Tao Te Ching'Book summary:Acknowledged to be one of the definitive versions of the influential Chinese classic, this new translation reveals the text in its full glory and recaptures the flow and power of the original writings. One of the most important books in Chinese literature, its significance has reverberated throughout the centuries since the Han dynasty. Its powerful effect on Western society is second to none in terms of non-Western books. Here the Tao Te Ching's 80 chapters of wise sayings and commentaries on the self and our relation to society are sumptuously illustrated with contemporary works of art and are viewed not only individually but as part of a unifying pattern. Text in both English and Chinese includes background on Lao Tzu, the recognized author of the Tao Te Ching, plus a brief history of Taoism. Essential reading for anyone--even those who have read previous translations--with an interest in ancient wisdom.[via]More editions of Illustrated Tao Te Ching:
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Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin And Spread of Nationalismby Benedict AndersonISBN 1844670864 (1-84467-086-4)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin And Spread of Nationalism'Book summary:The definitive, bestselling book on the origins of nationalism, and the processes that have shaped it.
Imagined Communities, Benedict Andersons brilliant book on nationalism, forged a new field of study when it first appeared in 1983. Since then it has sold over a quarter of a million copies and is widely considered the most important book on the subject. In this greatly anticipated revised edition, Anderson updates and elaborates on the core question: what makes people live and die for nations, as well as hate and kill in their name?
Anderson examines the creation and global spread of the imagined communities of nationality, and explores the processes that created these communities: the territorialization of religious faiths, the decline of antique kinship, the interaction between capitalism and print, the development of secular languages-of-state, and changing conceptions of time and space. He shows how an originary nationalism born in the Americas was adopted by popular movements in Europe, by imperialist powers, and by the movements of anti-imperialist resistance in Asia and Africa.
In a new afterword, Anderson examines the extraordinary influence of Imagined Communities, and the book's international publication and reception, from the end of the Cold War era to the present day.
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In His Stepsby Charles Monroe SheldonISBN 1593106823 (1-59310-682-3)
Softcover, Barbour Pub Inc
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Introducing Postmodernismby Richard Appignanesi, Patrick Curry, Ziauddin Sardar, Chris GarrattISBN 1840460563 (1-84046-056-3)
Softcover, Totem Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Introducing Postmodernism'Book summary:Traces the pedigrees of postmodernism in art, theory and history, and takes us on a roller-coaster ride through structuralism, semiotics and deconstruction in the company of postmodern icons such as Foucault, Levi-Strauss, Barthes, Derrida, Lacan and Lyotard. It is a crucial guide for anyone fascination or exasperated by postmodernism. [via]
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The Jungleby Upton Beall Sinclair, Maura SpiegelISBN 1593080085 (1-59308-008-5)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Jungle'Book summary:[via]The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:- New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
- Biographies of the authors
- Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
- Footnotes and endnotes
- Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
- Comments by other famous authors
- Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
- Bibliographies for further reading
- Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate
Upton Sinclairs muckraking masterpiece The Jungle centers on Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant working in Chicagos infamous Packingtown. Instead of finding the American Dream, Rudkus and his family inhabit a brutal, soul-crushing urban jungle dominated by greedy bosses, pitiless con-men, and corrupt politicians.While Sinclairs main target was the industrys appalling labor conditions, the reading public was most outraged by the disgusting filth and contamination in American food that his novel exposed. As a result, President Theodore Roosevelt demanded an official investigation, which quickly led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug laws. For a work of fiction to have such an impact outside its literary context is extremely rare. (At the time of The Jungles publication in 1906, the only novel to have led to social change on a similar scale in America was Uncle Toms Cabin.)
Today, The Jungle remains a relevant portrait of capitalism at its worst and an impassioned account of the human spirit facing nearly insurmountable challenges.
Maura Spiegel teaches literature and film at Columbia University and Barnard College. She is the coauthor of The Grim Reader and The Breast Book: An Intimate and Curious History. She coedits Literature and Medicine, a journal.
Learning Web Designby Jennifer Niederst RobbinsISBN 160033007X (1-60033-007-X)
Softcover, Oreilly & Associates Inc
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Leaves of Grassby Walt Whitman, Karen KarbienerISBN 1593080832 (1-59308-083-2)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Leaves of Grass'Book summary:[via]Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:When Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855 as a slim tract of twelve untitled poems, Walt Whitman was still an unknown. But his self-published volume soon became a landmark of poetry, introducing the world to a new and uniquely American form. The "father of free verse," Whitman drew upon the cadence of simple, even idiomatic speech to "sing" such themes as democracy, sexuality, and frank autobiography.
Throughout his prolific writing career, Whitman continually revised his work and expanded Leaves of Grass, which went through nine, substantively different editions, culminating in the final, authoritative "Death-bed Edition." Now the original 1855 version and the "Death-bed Edition" of 1892 have been brought together in a single volume, allowing the reader to experience the total scope of Whitman's genius, which produced love lyrics, visionary musings, glimpses of nightmare and ecstasy, celebrations of the human body and spirit, and poems of loneliness, loss, and mourning.Alive with the mythical strength and vitality that epitomized the American experience in the nineteenth century, Leaves of Grass continues to inspire, uplift, and unite those who read it.
Karen Karbiener received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and currently teaches at New York University. She also wrote the introduction and notes for the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of Frankenstein.
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The Life and Times of Charles Dickensby Peter AckroydISBN 159258215X (1-59258-215-X)
Softcover, Hylas Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Life and Times of Charles Dickens'Book summary:This special abridged edition takes the reader into the fascinating life of one of the world's greatest writers--Dickens' penurious and painful childhood, the triumphant reception of his first novel and other significant events in Dickens' life. [via]
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Lonely Planet Chinaby Damian Harper, Steve Fallon, Katja Gaskell, Julie Grundvig, Carolyn HellerISBN 1740596870 (1-74059-687-0)
Softcover, Lonely Planet Publications
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Lonely Planet Chinaby Thomas Huhti, Bradley Mayhew, Damian Harper, Marie Cambon, Mielikki Org, Korina Miller, Katja GaskellISBN 1740591178 (1-74059-117-8)
Softcover, Lonely Planet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lonely Planet China'Book summary:Thorough, time honored, and true, this guidebook covers it all, from showpiece Hong Kong to new frontiers only recently opened to travelers. Includes sections on cuisine, martial arts, religion, and more. 220 maps. [via]
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Lonely Planet Italyby Miles Roddis, Richard Watkins, Duncan Garwood, Josephine Quintero, Paula Hardy, Alex Levition, Damien SimonisISBN 1741043034 (1-74104-303-4)
Softcover, Lonely Planet
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Lonely Planet Italyby Wendy Owen, Nicola Williams, Miles Roddis, Fiona Adams, Duncan Garwood, Paula HardyISBN 1741040809 (1-74104-080-9)
Softcover, Lonely Planet
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lonely Planet Italy'Book summary:From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there, chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.
Explore the riches of Italy with Lonely Planet's essential guide. Featuring a special color feature on Italian art and architecture, this book also contains insider's advice on the best pasta and gelati; skiing and trekking information, notes on history, culture and current politics; as well as practical food and accommodation suggestions for every budget. Delightful sidebars add insight into the culture, with details on everything from gladiators to mushroom picking. --Kathryn True [via]
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Metaphysics - Aristotleby AristotleISBN 1595479791 (1-59547-979-1)
Softcover, Nuvision Pubns
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Metaphysics - Aristotle'Book summary:Metaphysics is Aristotle's version of philosophy examining the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value. Aristotle argues that there are a handful of universal truths. Aristotle's works have influenced science, religion, and philosophy for nearly two thousand years. He could be thought of as the father of logical thought. Aristotle wrote: "There is nothing in the intellect that was not first in the senses." He wrote that everything that is learned in life is learned through sensory perception. Aristotle was the first to establish the founding principle of logic. The great writer Dante called Aristotle "The Master of those who know." [via]
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Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets, and Growing Up in the 1970sby Margaret SartorISBN 1596912006 (1-59691-200-6)
Hardcover, St Martins Pr
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Mr. Nice: An Autobiographyby Howard MarksISBN 1841953199 (1-84195-319-9)
Softcover, Canongate Books Ltd
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My Mother's Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothesby Justine PicardieISBN 1596911492 (1-59691-149-2)
Hardcover, Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Mother's Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes'Book summary:A glorious meditation on why clothes matter.[via]
Beginning with the story of her mother's wedding dress, a perfect black French cocktail dress bought in 1960, writer and former Vogue editor Justine Picardie affirms what all of us may have suspected: that the real value of our wardrobes lies in the history and associations woven into our clothes. Combining tales of her own family and friends, intimate stories from the fashion business, and reflections on clothes in literature and pop culture, Picardie uncovers the truths that lie underneath what we wear. She reflects on the strange disappearance of garments we love; the allure of uniforms; the house that Chanel built; the bridal and ghostly qualities of women in white; the fate of a ring belonging to Charlotte Brontë; the power of scarlet clothing; how Donatella Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, and Claude Montana dress themselves; and how the clothes we inherit from loved ones link us to the departed. Rich with fascinating stories from the public and private worlds of fashion, My Mother's Wedding Dress is a gorgeously written book about what clothes cover up, and what they reveal.More editions of My Mother's Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes:
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My Utmostby Oswald Chambers, James ReimannISBN 1597892491 (1-59789-249-1)
Softcover, Barbour Pub Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Utmost'Book summary:Oswald Chambers, a Scotsman who converted to Christianity in his teens under the ministry of Charles Spurgeon, has been affecting Christians with his devotional words since My Utmost for His Highest was first published in 1935. This acknowledged classic contains 365 daily readings that take heady doctrine and make it practical, realistic, and intensely personal. With humor and humility, Chambers speaks plainly to the common man struggling with devotion to Christ in daily living. Worldly cares and self-serving desires begin to lose their appeal as Chambers aides the reader in transforming his mind by viewing life through the instruction of God's Word. Richard Halverson, former chaplain of the United States Senate, attests to this: "no book except the Bible has influenced my walk with Christ at such deep maturing levels." This is Chambers's chief desire, directing the reader to "shut out every other consideration and keep yourself before God for this one thing only--My Utmost for His Highest... determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and for Him alone." --Jill Heatherly [via]
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My Utmost for His Highestby Not AvailableISBN 1597895180 (1-59789-518-0)
Softcover, Barbour Pub Inc
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Natural History of Selborneby Gilbert White, Edmund H. NewISBN 1853261815 (1-85326-181-5)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Natural History of Selborne'Book summary:This work evokes and chronicles a long-lost world of rustic quiet, prior to the advent of mechanization, communication and supply equipment. The author recorded the flora, fauna and climate of the village of Selborne in a way which portrays its serene and tranquil life. [via]
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Never Hit a Jellyfish With a Spade: How to Survive Life's Smaller Challengesby Guy BrowningISBN 1592402410 (1-59240-241-0)
Softcover, Gotham Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Never Hit a Jellyfish With a Spade: How to Survive Life's Smaller Challenges'Book summary:Lifes big questions seem to take care of themselvesits the little things that cause the most trouble. Guy Browning shares his hilarious advice for facing a million and one small challenges in this gem that was a runaway bestseller in Britain.
Readers of the UKs Guardian magazine already know and love Guy Browning as the author of a droll weekly column. In Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade, Browning introduces his laugh-out-loud rules for living to an American audience. He interprets lifes smaller truths and tackles everyday matters with a keen eye and a distinctive, sardonic wit. His tongue-in-cheek advice spans a wide range of topics: Sickness and Health, Cooking and Eating, Fashion and Grooming, Sleeping and Waking, Love and Marriage, and more, encompassing:
" How to evaluate a bottle of wine (if the alcohol content is less than 15%, send it straight back)
" How to get what you want at the barbers (no multipart instructions, please)
" How to pretend to laugh at a friends joke (the closest most men get to faking orgasm)
In Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade, Browning gives the essential rules for living life with a sense of humor. [via]More editions of Never Hit a Jellyfish With a Spade: How to Survive Life's Smaller Challenges:
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The Nightmare Years, 1930-1940by William L. ShirerISBN 1841581224 (1-84158-122-4)
Softcover, Birlinn, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Nightmare Years, 1930-1940'Book summary:As European correspondent for a number of American newspapers during the 1930s, William L. Shirer witnessed at first hand many of the pivotal events in the buildup to World War II. At the Nuremberg rallies, when Hitler roared through the streets celebrating his newly-won domination of Germany, Shirer was there. In Munich, as Chamberlain abandoned the Czechs, Shirer was there. In Vienna during the night of the Anschluss, in Berlin, when Hitler loosed his Blitzkrieg on Poland and began the war, Shirer was there. Through articles, broadcasts and translations of Hitler's speeches, Shirer tirelessly tried to warn the world of the terrible evil that was growing in Germany. The Nightmare Years, a No. I bestseller when first published in America in 1984, is not only the fascinating eyewitness account of this cataclysmic decade, but also the more personal story of a young American caught in tense and desperate times, struggling to survive and provide a life for himself and his family as the world lurched inexorably towards war.
'More than any conventional history book, Shirer's memoirs let a reader relive history' -People 'A superb journalist. ..Shirer was close enough to Hitler to feel the Nazi leader's messianic personal force. ..An unusually fine book' -Time 'No one ever did more to explain the rise of the Nazis' -Barbara Tuchman 'An outstanding achievement of journalistic history; indeed it is the best kind of accurate and absorbing history' -Washington Post REVIEWS 'Reporting at its best. ..A highly readable, absorbing story of a fascinating man and a dangerous decade. ..A deeply personal account of living with history as it's being made -an absorbing narrative' -Houston Chronicle 'More than any conventional history book, Shirer's memoirs let a reader relive history' -People 'A superb journalist. ..Shirer was close enough to Hitler to feel the Nazi leader's messianic personal force. ..An unusually fine book' -Time 'No one ever did more to explain the rise of the Nazis' -Barbara Tuchman 'An outstanding achievement of journalistic history; indeed it is the best kind of accurate and absorbing history' -Washington Post [via]More editions of The Nightmare Years, 1930-1940:
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The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Healthby Paul CamposISBN 1592400663 (1-59240-066-3)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health'Book summary:Is your weight hazardous to your health? According to public-health authorities, 65 percent of us are overweight. Every day, we are bombarded with dire warnings about Americas "obesity epidemic." Close to half of the adult population is dieting, obsessed with achieving an arbitrary "ideal weight." Yet studies show that a moderately active larger person is likely to be far healthier (and to live longer) than someone who is thin but sedentary. And contrary to what the fifty-billion-dollar-per-year weight-loss industry would have us believe medical science has not yet come up with a way to make people thin.
After years spent scrutinizing medical studies and interviewing leading doctors, scientists, eating- disorder specialists, and psychiatrists, Professor Paul Campos is here to lead the backlash against weight hysteriaand to show that we can safeguard our health without obsessing about the numbers on the scale. But The Obesity Myth is not just a compelling argument, grounded in the latest scientific research; its also a provocative, wry exposé of the culture that feeds on our self-defeating war on fat. Campos will show:
* How the nations most prestigious and trusted media sources consistently misinform the public about obesity
* What the movie industrys love affair with the "fat suit" tells us about the relationship between racial- and body-based prejudice in America
* How the skinny elitewith their "supersized" lifestyles and gas-guzzling SUVsproject their anxieties about overconsumption on the poorer and heavier underclass
* How weight-loss mania fueled the impeachment of Bill Clinton
In this paradigm-busting read, Professor Campos challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the medical, political, and cultural meaning of weight and brings a rational and compelling new voice to Americas increasingly irrational weight debate.
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The Odysseyby Homer, Robert Squillace, George Herbert PalmerISBN 1593080093 (1-59308-009-3)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Odyssey'Book summary:With an Introduction and Notes by Adam Roberts Royal Holloway, University of London Homer's great epic describes the many adventures of Odysseus, Greek warrior, as he strives over many years to return to his home island of Ithaca after the Trojan War. His colourful adventures, his endurance, his love for his wife and son have the same power to move and inspire readers today as they did in Archaic Greece, 2800 years ago. This poem has been translated many times over the years, but Chapman's sinewy, gorgeous rendering (1616) stands in a class of its own. Chapman believed himself inspired by the spirit of Homer himself, and matches the breadth and power of the original with a complex and stunning idiom of his own. John Keats expressed his admiration for the resulting work in the famous sonnet, 'On first looking into Chapman's Homer': 'Much have I travelled in the realms of gold...' [via]
The Pedant in the Kitchenby Julian BarnesISBN 1843542390 (1-84354-239-0)
Hardcover, Guardian
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The Phenomenology of Mindby Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, J. B. BaillieISBN 1596057726 (1-59605-772-6)
Hardcover, Cosimo Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Phenomenology of Mind'Book summary:A sweeping investigation of how knowledge is obtained by means of absolute truth, including how the spirit reveals itself as absolute reality, The Phenomenology of Mind is an intellectual tour-de-force and represents a great philosophical works for the ages. Originally published in English in 1910, Hegel proffers his unique viewpoint that knowledge is not separated from, nor outside of, absolute reality - but that knowledge is itself reality, and posits that reality is mental and spiritual. Volume II includes: . [The Nature of] Free Concrete Mind: Spirit . Religion in General . Absolute Knowledge Also Available from Cosimo Classics: Hegel's The Phenomenology of Mind: Volume I German philosopher GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL (1770-1831) was born in Stuttgart and studied at Tübingen, where his contemporaries included Schelling and the poet Hölderlin. As a philosophical disciple of Kant, Hegel was of the Idealist School of philosophers and remained an unparalleled influence on German philosophy throughout the 19th-century. Additional works by Hegel's include: The Objective Logic (1812-13), The Subjective Logic (1816), Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciencies in Outline (1817), and Philosophy of Right (1821). [via]
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Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945by Tony JudtISBN 1594200653 (1-59420-065-3)
Hardcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945'Book summary:World War II may have ended in 1945, but according to historian Tony Judt, the conflict's epilogue lasted for nearly the rest of the century. Calling 1945-1989 "an interim age," Judt examines what happened on each side of the Iron Curtain, with the West nervously inching forward while the East endured the "peace of the prison yard" until the fall of Communism in 1989 signaled their chance to progress. Though he proposes no grand, overarching theory of the postwar period, Judt's massive work covers the broad strokes as well as the fine details of the years 1945 to 2005. No one book (even at nearly a thousand pages) could fully encompass this complex period, but Postwar comes close, and is impressive for its scope, synthesis, clarity, and narrative cohesion.
Judt treats the entire continent as a whole, providing equal coverage of social changes, economic forces, and cultural shifts in western and eastern Europe. He offers a county-by-county analysis of how each Eastern nation shed Communism and traces the rise of the European Union, looking at what it represents both economically and ideologically. Along with the dealings between European nations, he also covers Europe's conflicted relationship with the United States, which learned much different lessons from World War II than did Europe. In particular, he studies the success of the Marshall Plan and the way the West both appreciated and resented the help, for acceptance of it reminded them of their diminished place in the world. No impartial observer, Judt offers his judgments and opinions throughout the book in an attempt to instruct as well as inform. If a moral lesson is to come from World War II, Judt writes, "then it will have to be taught afresh with each passing generation. 'European Union' may be an answer to history, but it can never be a substitute." This book would be an excellent place to start that lesson. --Shawn Carkonen [via]
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The Princeby Niccolo Machiavelli, W.K. MarriottISBN 1598189360 (1-59818-936-0)
Softcover, Alan Rodgers Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Prince'Book summary:"Those who strive to obtain the good graces of a prince are accustomed to come before him with such things as they hold most precious, or in which they see him take most delight; whence one often sees horses, arms, cloth of gold, precious stones, and similar ornaments presented to princes, worthy of their greatness. Desiring therefore to present myself to your Magnificence with some testimony of my devotion towards you, I have not found among my possessions anything which I hold more dear than, or value so much as, the knowledge of the actions of great men, acquired by long experience in contemporary affairs, and a continual study of antiquity; which, having reflected upon it with great and prolonged diligence, I now send, digested into a little volume, to your Magnificence." (From the author's dedication to "To the Magnificent Lorenzo Di Piero De' Medici.") [via]
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Prince And Other Writingsby Niccolo Machiavelli, Wayne A. RebhornISBN 1593080603 (1-59308-060-3)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Prince And Other Writings'Book summary:[via]The Prince and Other Writings, by Niccolo Machiavelli, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.One of historys greatest political philosophers, Niccolò Machiavelli is notorious for his treatise The Prince, which has become a cornerstone of modern political theory. Written in 1513 and published in 1532, after Machivellis death, The Prince immediately provoked controversy that has continued unabated to this day.
Defining human nature as inherently selfish, Machiavelli proposes that social conflict and violence are natural phenomena that help determine the ablest, most versatile form of government. Asserting that idealism has no place in the political arena, The Prince primarily addresses a monarchs difficulties in retaining authority. Considered the first expression of political realism, it has often been accused of advocating a political philosophy in which the end justifies the means. Indeed the emphasis in The Prince on practical success, at the expense even of traditional moral values, earned Machiavelli a reputation for ruthlessness, deception, and cruelty. Many scholars contend, however, that the authors pragmatic views of ethics and politics reflected the realities of his time, as exemplified by the Medici family of Florence.
Debates about Machiavellis theories are as lively today as they were 450 years ago, but no one questions the importance of his fundamental contribution to Western political thought. This newly translated edition also includes Machiavellis Letter to Francesco Vettori, The Life of Castruccio Castracani, and excerpts from the Discourses on Livy.
Wayne A. Rebhorn, Celanese Centennial Professor of English at the University of Texas, has authored numerous studies of Renaissance European literature. His Foxes and Lions: Machiavellis Confidence Men won the Howard R. Marraro Prize of the Modern Language Association of America in 1990.More editions of Prince And Other Writings:
Revolt in the Desertby T. E. LawrenceISBN 1853266809 (1-85326-680-9)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc
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The Rising Sunby John TolandISBN 1844153045 (1-84415-304-5)
Softcover, Casemate Pub & Book Dist Llc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Rising Sun'Book summary:This magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning history, told primarily from the Japanese viewpoint, traces the dramatic fortunes of the Empire of the Sun from the invasion of Manchuria to the dropping of the atomic bombs, demolishing many myths surrounding this catastrophic conflict. Why did the dawn attack on Pearl Harbor occur? Was was inevitable? Was the Emperor a puppet or a warmonger? And, finally, what inspired the barbaric actions of those who fought, and who speak here of the unspeakable - murder, cannibalism and desertion?
'Unbelievably rich ... Readable and exciting' -Newsweek
'The most readable, yet informative account of the Pacific War' -Chicago Sunday Times [via]More editions of The Rising Sun:
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Rootsby Alex Haley, Michael Eric DysonISBN 1593154496 (1-59315-449-6)
Softcover, Vanguard Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Roots'Book summary:One of the most important books and television series ever to appear, Roots, galvanized the nation, and created an extraordinary political, racial, social and cultural dialogue that hadnt been seen since the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin. The book sold over one million copies in the first year, and the miniseries was watched by an astonishing 130 million people. It also won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Roots opened up the minds of Americans of all colors and faiths to one of the darkest and most painful parts of Americas past.[via]
Over the years, both Roots and Alex Haley have attracted controversy, which comes with the territory for trailblazing, iconic books, particularly on the topic of race. Some of the criticism results from whether Roots is fact or fiction and whether Alex Haley confused these two issues, a subject he addresses directly in the book. There is also the fact that Haley was sued for plagiarism when it was discovered that several dozen paragraphs in Roots were taken directly from a novel, The African, by Harold Courlander, who ultimately received a substantial financial settlement at the end of the case.
But none of the controversy affects the basic issue. Roots fostered a remarkable dialogue about not just the past, but the then present day 1970s and how America had fared since the days portrayed in Roots. Vanguard Press feels that it is important to publish Roots: The 30th Anniversary Edition to remind the generation that originally read it that there are issues that still need to be discussed and debated, and to introduce to a new and younger generation, a book that will help them understand, perhaps for the first time, the reality of what took place during the time of Roots.
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The Rough Guide to Moroccoby Hamish Brown, Daniel Jacobs, Shaun McVeigh, Rough GuidesISBN 1843533138 (1-84353-313-8)
Softcover, Rough Guides
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Rough Guide to Morocco'Book summary:The Rough Guide to Morocco is the ultimate guide to this fascinating country. A full colour introduction includes the ''Things Not to Miss'' colour section, showcasing the country''s highlights, from dune-boarding in the Southern Oasis to exploring the medieval souks of Marrakesh and Fes. With each chapter covering a region of the country, there are evocative accounts of all the sights from Casablanca''s Art Deco architecture to the unique Djemma el Fna in Marrakesh. There are insider reviews of all the best hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars and practical advice on outdoor pursuits including trekking, mountain biking, surfing and camel-riding. For every town and region there are detailed maps, pin-pointing the locations of the listings. [via]
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The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer To The Heart Of Godby Brent Curtis, John EldredgeISBN 1594150680 (1-59415-068-0)
Softcover, Walker Large Print
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer To The Heart Of God'Book summary:A CBA Bestseller
First published in 1997, The Sacred Romance is quietly on its way to becoming a classic. Why have so many people connected so powerfully with this book? Authors Brent Curtis and John Eldredge put words to long-forgotten feelings. They voice our unspoken fears about God's goodness and our own emptiness. Without being preachy or cliché, the authors offer a glimpse of God's heart that is tender, risky, and compelling. If you long for something more, then open this profound book. [via]
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Sailing Alone Around the Worldby Joshua Slocum, Dennis A. BertholdISBN 1593083033 (1-59308-303-3)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Sailing Alone Around the World'Book summary:Full of astounding adventures, Sailing Alone around the World is the true story of the first man ever to circle the globe alone entirely by sea. In a little over three years, Captain Joshua Slocum completed the feat many experts believed couldn't be doneand he has the stories to prove it. During his historic voyage, Slocum was chased by pirates in Gibraltar, soaked by a "rain of blood" in Australia, and battered by perilous storms in the open ocean. He also met many famousand infamouspeople along the way, from Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa, to Black Pedro, "the worst murderer in Tierra del Fuego." This absorbing tale, written with humor and poetic eloquence, was first published in 1900 and has remained in print ever since. [via]
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Tao Te Chingby Lao Tzu, John C. H. WuISBN 159030246X (1-59030-246-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tao Teh Ching'Book summary:Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching, or The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature. Traditionally attributed to the near-legendary Old Master, Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities of the enlightened sage or ideal ruler are identical with those of the perfected individual. Today, Lao Tzus words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life. To follow the Tao or Way of all things and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity.
John C. H. Wu has done a remarkable job of rendering this subtle text into English while retaining the freshness and depth of the original. A jurist and scholar, Dr. Wu was a recognized authority on Taoism and the translator of several Taoist and Zen texts and of Chinese poetry. [via]More editions of Tao Te Ching:
- Tao Teh Ching: ISBN 1590304055 (1-59030-405-5)
Softcover, Bantam Books - Tao Te Ching: ISBN 1593082568 (1-59308-256-8)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc - Tao Te Ching: ISBN 1842930567 (1-84293-056-7)
Softcover, Duncan Baird Publishers - Tao Te Ching: ISBN 1853264717 (1-85326-471-7)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc - Tao Te Ching: ISBN 1852309164 (1-85230-916-4)
Hardcover, Element Books Ltd - Tao Teh Ching: ISBN 159030246X (1-59030-246-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
- Tao Teh Ching: ISBN 1590304055 (1-59030-405-5)
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Tao Te Chingby Derek LinISBN 1594732043 (1-59473-204-3)
Softcover, Skylight Paths Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tao Te Ching'Book summary:Reportedly written by a sage named Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the most succinct--and yet among the most profound--spiritual texts ever written. Short enough to read in an afternoon, subtle enough to study for a lifetime, the Tao Te Ching distills into razor-sharp poetry centuries of spiritual inquiry into the Tao--the "Way" of the natural world around us that reveals the ultimate organizing principle of the universe.
Derek Lin's insightful commentary, along with his new translation from the original Chinese--a translation that sets a whole new standard for accuracy--will inspire your spiritual journey and enrich your everyday life. It highlights the Tao Te Ching's insights on simplicity, balance, and learning from the paradoxical truths you can see all around you: finding strength through flexibility (because bamboo bends, it is tough to break); achieving goals by transcending obstacles (water simply flows around rocks on its way to the sea); believing that small changes bring powerful results (a sapling, in time, grows into a towering tree).
Now you can experience the wisdom and power of Lao Tzu's words even if you have no previous knowledge of the Tao Te Ching. SkyLight Illuminations provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes helpful historical background, explains the Tao Te Ching's poetic imagery, and elucidates the ancient Taoist wisdom that will speak to your life today and energize your spiritual quest. [via]
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Tao Te Ching: The New Translationby Martin Palmer, Jay Ramsay, Man-Ho KwokISBN 1852303220 (1-85230-322-0)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tao Te Ching: The New Translation'Book summary:For more than 2,500 years, the Tao Te Ching has been the major underlying influence in Chinese thought and culture. This outstanding collector's edition is a completely fresh translation, meticulously drawn from the earliest known Chinese manuscript, and rendered into a powerful text by poet John Ramsay. Illustrated in full color with calligraphy and 14th-century Chinese paintings. [via]
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The Tao Te Ching: 81 Verses by Lao Tzu with Introduction and Commentaryby WatkinsISBN 1842931237 (1-84293-123-7)
Hardcover, Duncan Baird Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Tao Te Ching: 81 Verses by Lao Tzu with Introduction and Commentary'Book summary:[via]The Tao Te Ching is universally renowned as a sublimely poetic spiritual teaching by the legendary sage, Lao Tzu. Its easily assimilated aphorisms provide a continuous source of spiritual nourishment, its insights on statesmanship are practical guides for our own time, and, in the West, the Taoist systems of the I Ching, Tai Chi, Qui Gong, and Feng Shui are becoming increasingly popular. Ralph Alan Dales brilliant translation uniquely captures, as never before, the essential meaning of this profound text.More editions of The Tao Te Ching: 81 Verses by Lao Tzu with Introduction and Commentary:
Up from Slavery: An Autobiographyby Booker T. WashingtonISBN 1846375819 (1-84637-581-9)
Softcover, Echo Library
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When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Timesby Pema ChodronISBN 1590302265 (1-59030-226-5)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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Wordsworth Dictionary of Piratesby Jan RogozinskiISBN 1853263842 (1-85326-384-2)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions, Limited
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The Works of Oscar Wildeby Oscar WildeISBN 1853264253 (1-85326-425-3)
Softcover, Wordsworth Editions, Limited
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Works of Oscar Wilde'Book summary:This is a collection of the poetic works of Oscar Wilde. The majority of these poems were written before he was 27, with a handful of impressionistic lyrics and "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" written later. Wilde applies different slants to established forms. [via]
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