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New and Recently Released!
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| The birth of the pill by Jonathan EigDuring the first half of the 20th century, Margaret Sanger advocated for women's right to not have to deal with unwanted pregnancies. She hoped that scientists could discover a contraceptive pill, but most researchers scoffed at her. Finally, in 1950, she approached biologist Gregory Pincus, who agreed to take on the challenge of developing a pill. In this compelling, detailed social history, author Jonathan Eig reviews the reasons reliable contraception was urgently needed, examines social attitudes that influenced opposition to it, and vividly describes Pincus' work and some of the people supporting the effort. |
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The establishment: and how they get away with it
by Owen Jones
Behind our democracy lurks a powerful but unaccountable network of people who wield massive power and reap huge profits in the process. Exposing the revolving doors that link these worlds, and the vested interests that bind them together, the author shows how, in claiming to work on our behalf, those at the top are doing precisely the opposite.
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Churchill's secret warriors: the explosive true story of the special forces desperadoes of WWII
by Damien Lewis
In the bleak moments after defeat on mainland Europe in winter 1939, Winston Churchill knew that Britain had to strike back hard. So Britain's wartime leader called for the lightning development of a completely new kind of warfare, recruiting a band of eccentric free-thinking warriors to become the first 'deniable' secret operatives to strike behind enemy lines, offering these volunteers nothing but the potential for glory and all-but-certain death. Churchill's Secret Warriors tells the story of the daring victories for this small force of 'freelance pirates', undertaking devastatingly effective missions against the Nazis, often dressed in enemy uniforms and with enemy kit, breaking all previously held rules of warfare. Master storyteller Damien Lewis brings the adventures of the secret unit to life, weaving together the stories of the soldiers' brotherhood in this compelling narrative, from the unit's earliest missions to the death of their leader just weeks before the end of the war.
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Bali heaven and hell: bloodshed, chaos and corruption, free love, great surf and high times under the banyan trees
by Phil Jarratt
A popular destination, Bali represents many different things for numerous young people it is their first destination overseas, for some it is a spiritual destination, others visit for a beach holiday, and still more come for profitable business opportunities. Heaven and Hell is a story of survival in the face of genocide, natural disaster, terrorism, cultural imperialism and corruption on a grand scale, and of how Bali has managed to present the same smiling face to generations of tourists, despite the enormous price its people have had to pay for inhabiting the glorious island at the "morning of the world".
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Gin glorious gin: how mother's ruin became the spirit of London
by Olivia Williams
Gin Glorious Gin is a vibrant cultural history of London seen through the prism of its most iconic drink. Leading the reader through the underbelly of the Georgian city via the Gin Craze, detouring through the Empire (with a G&T in hand), to the emergence of cocktail bars in the West End, the story is brought right up to date with the resurgence of class in a glass - the Ginnaissance. As gin has crossed paths with Londoners of all classes and professions over the past three hundred years it has become shorthand for metropolitan glamour and alcoholic squalor in equal measure.
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| Political order and political decay by Francis FukuyamaIn Political Order and Political Decay, acclaimed author Francis Fukuyama follows up on The Origins of Political Order (whose argument he summarizes in this sequel). Reviewing the history of political change, he provides numerous examples of rapid governmental shifts (from the French Revolution to the Arab Spring that began in December 2010). He also analyzes the evolution of democracy and critiques the structures -- and problems -- of major contemporary political systems, especially the United States. This "strikingly ambitious and provocative" (Booklist) discussion of political theory will engage anyone interested in the topic. |
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| The most powerful idea in the world: a story of steam, industry, and invention by William RosenThough historian William Rosen makes a grand claim in his title, The Most Powerful Idea in the World, he offers convincing evidence that steam-powered engines had a uniquely world-changing effect. Starting with a road trip to view the oldest steam engine still performing its original job, Rosen amiably and engagingly reviews the history of steam power, technical evolution of the engines, the inventors' methods and financial support, and the specific industries for which steam engines provided a great leap forward. His exploration of England's influence on intellectual property law - another powerful idea - adds a thought-provoking perspective on the history of invention. This absorbing narrative brings technological history to life. |
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Bungalow: from heritage to contemporary
by Nicole Stock
A glorious celebration of one of New Zealand's most significant residential architectural styles. If you live in a house built before 1940, chances are it's a bungalow. It may be small and utilitarian, or it may be a high-flown celebration of the Arts and Crafts movement, loaded with inglenooks, stained-glass windows and wood panelling...either way it's a housing style that's instantly familiar to New Zealanders: well built, snug, and full of character. Like its antecedent, the villa, its style has given our older suburbs their generous atmosphere and tone. In this splendid book, edited by Nicole Stock, New Zealand's best architectural writers and historians document the bungalow's complex past and its varied and eminently modifiable present.
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Liberty style
by Martin Wood
The story of Liberty's is the story of design. The brand has been an international byword for style and innovation since May 1875, when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened the doors of his Regent Steet shop. With an impressive ability to spot talent and to promote good, innovative and interesting design, Liberty's shop quickly became the epicentre of London's Aesthetic movement, the place where Oscar Wilde bought Japanese silk. Successive movements found a home at Liberty's: Arts and Crafts; Art Nouveau; Art Deco; and the Georgian revival. The work of almost all the great designers of the past century in the fields of glass, metalwork, furniture, ceramics, fashion and, above all, textiles has appeared under the Liberty label. In this book Martin Wood tells the story of Liberty's, its design and its designers: from the pewter and silverware of Archibald Knox and the Silver Studio and William DeMorgan's tiles to the fabrics of Lucienne Day, Sonia Delaunay and Bernard Nevill and the furniture of Piero Fornasetti, Vico Magistretti and even Ringo Starr.
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The story of pain: from prayer to painkillers
by Joanna Bourke
Everyone knows what it feels like to be in pain. We also witness other people loved ones suffering, and we 'feel with' them. It is easy to assume this is the end of the story: 'pain-is-pain-is-pain', and that is all there is to say. But it is not. In fact, the way in which people respond to what they describe as 'painful' has changed considerably over time. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for example, people believed that pain served a specific (and positive) function it was a message from God or Nature; it would perfect the spirit. Submission to pain was required. Nothing could be more removed from twentieth and twenty-first century understandings, where pain is regarded as an unremitting evil to be 'fought'. Focusing on the English-speaking world, this book tells the story of pain since the eighteenth century, addressing fundamental questions about the experience and nature of suffering over the last three centuries.
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