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Armchair Travel August 2018
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| The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland & England by Graham RobbWhat it's about: With bicycles in tow, Graham Robb and his wife moved to a house situated on part of the 33,000-acre area on the border of England and Scotland known as the "debatable land." Intrigued by his new region, Robb cycled around, dug into the area's history (finding thieves, cattle, King Arthur, and more), met local people, and discovered intriguing historical documents and maps.
For fans of: thoughtful, well-researched travel books, like Rory Stewart's The Marches, which also looks at the Scotland-England border region. |
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Understanding Islam and the West
by Nathan Chapman Lean
As the world's second-largest faith and by some accounts the fastest-growing, Islam is often at the forefront of intense public conversation and debates about politics, international relations, globalization, modern society and culture.
From the rise of ISIS and revolutions in North Africa and Middle East to more tempered discussions about what it means to be a Muslim in "the West," this student-focused textbook, unpacks how we talk about, think about, and represent Islam, its place in and relationship to "the West".
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How dare the sun rise : memoirs of a war child
by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
A memoir by the co-creator of the Foundation of Hope Ministries shares the remarkable story of her survival during the Gatumba massacre and how after moving to America she found healing through art and activism.
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The Desert and the Sea : 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast
by Michael Scott Moore
In January 2012, having covered a Somali pirate trial in Hamburg for Spiegel Online International, Michael Scott Moore traveled to the Horn of Africa to write about piracy and ways to end it. In a terrible twist of fate, Moore himself was kidnapped and subsequently held captive by Somali pirates. Subjected to conditions that break even the strongest spirits—physical injury, starvation, isolation, terror—Moore’s survival is a testament to his indomitable strength of mind. In September 2014, after 977 days, he walked free when his ransom was put together by the help of several US and German institutions, friends, colleagues, and his strong-willed mother.
Yet Moore’s own struggle is only part of the story: The Desert and the Sea falls at the intersection of reportage, memoir, and history. Caught between Muslim pirates, the looming threat of Al-Shabaab, and the rise of ISIS, Moore observes the worlds that surrounded him—the economics and history of piracy; the effects of post-colonialism; the politics of hostage negotiation and ransom; while also conjuring the various faces of Islam—and places his ordeal in the context of the larger political and historical issues.
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