WORD Christchurch - Shifting Points of View
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The 2015 Christchurch Arts Festival starts this month including the Shifting points of view sessions brought to you by WORD Christchurch. Sessions deal with subjects such as 21st century sovereignty, North Korea, effective altruism, and how we might imagine a new, rebuilt city.
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| Joan of Arc: A History by Helen CastorDuring the early 15th century, a peasant girl called Joan led the French army into battle and helped Charles VII secure his throne against the English. Historian Helen Castor delves into the young shepherdess' background, detailing the political context of the Hundred Years' War and England's efforts to extend its dominion into French territory. She brings to life a real young woman whose eventual sainthood was undreamed of and whose defiantly unconventional personality persuaded a hesitant dauphin to fight for his throne. |
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| Empire of deception: The incredible story of a master swindler who seduced a city and captivated the nation by Dean JobbFrom 1903 to 1923, Chicago was home to a spectacular Ponzi scheme, bilking hundreds of people through worthless investments in phantom Panamanian oil and timber concerns. When his pyramid collapsed, con man Leo Koretz disappeared. Author Dean Jobb amusingly relates how Koretz schmoozed his way through Chicago society and traces the edge-of-your-seat manhunt for and subsequent criminal prosecution of the master deceiver. Empire of Deception also vividly depicts Chicago's society and politics in the era. Complete with illustrations, this "laugh-out-loud page-turner" (Booklist) will appeal to history buffs and true crime aficionados. |
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Fracture : Life and culture in the West, 1918-1938
by Philipp Blom
The award-winning author of "The Vertigo Years" argues that in the aftermath of World War I, Western culture redirected energies into hedonistic, aesthetic and intellectual adventures of self-discovery in ways that triggered world-changing innovations.
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Maine to Greenland : Exploring the maritime far northeast
by William W. Fitzhugh
Two Smithsonian archaeological researchers draw on decades of regional exploration to present a sumptuous tribute to the Maritime Far Northeast, combining personal essays on its history, habitat and culture with striking photography.
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| Once upon a time in Russia: The rise of the oligarchs -- A true story of ambition... by Ben MezrichJournalist Ben Mezrich offers a thrilling close-up view of two entrepreneurs who made fabulous profits after the Russian economy was opened to capitalism. While focusing on the pair's wildly successful but ultimately deadly ventures, Mezrich also vividly paints the 1990s ascendancy of powerful and corrupt oligarchs. From the rise and fall of Boris Yeltsin to the firm control of Vladimir Putin, this fascinating account of contemporary Russian capitalism reads like a novel, though it's well documented. For another fascinating narrative of danger in Russian business practices, read Bill Browder's memoir, Red notice. |
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The last soldiers of the Cold War : The story of the Cuban Five
by Fernando Morais
The story of political prisoners finally freed in December 2014, after being held captive by the United States since the late 1990s. Through the 1980s and 1990s, violent anti-Castro groups based in Florida carried out hundreds of military attacks on Cuba, bombing hotels and shooting up Cuban beaches with machine guns. The Cuban government struck back with the Wasp Network--a dozen men and two women--sent to infiltrate those organisations. This book tells the story of those unlikely Cuban spies and their eventual unmasking and prosecution by US authorities. Five of the Cubans received long or life prison terms on charges of espionage and murder. Global best-selling Brazilian author Fernando Morais narrates the riveting tale of the Cuban Five in vivid, page-turning detail, delving into the decades-long conflict between Cuba and the US, the growth of the powerful Cuban exile community in Florida, and a trial that eight Nobel Prize winners condemned as a travesty of justice
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The house by the lake
by Harding, Thomas
In the summer of 1993, Thomas Harding travelled to Germany with his grandmother to visit a small house by a lake on the outskirts of Berlin. It had been her 'soul place' as a child, she said - a holiday home for her and her family, but much more - a sanctuary, a refuge. In the 1930s, she had been forced to leave the house, fleeing to England as the Nazis swept to power. The trip, she said, was a chance to see it one last time, to remember it as it was. But the house had changed. Nearly twenty years later Thomas returned to the house. It was government property now, derelict, and soon to be demolished. It was his legacy, one that had been loved, abandoned, fought over - a house his grandmother had desired until her death. Could it be saved? And should it be saved?
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| Foundation: The history of England from its earliest beginnings to the Tudors by Peter AckroydCovering English history from Stonehenge through the end of the Plantagenets in 1485, "Foundation" launches a projected six-volume series by acclaimed historian Peter Ackroyd. Expertly weaving together accounts of politics, religion, and culture, he traces the influences that led, among other things, to the development of the common law and to Chaucer's 14th-century writings, which established the basis for modern English. Ackroyd's chronicle depicts the lives of the common people as sensitively as those of royalty in a dense but delightful pageant that Publishers Weekly calls "witty, provocative, and highly readable." Two more volumes in the series have since appeared: Tudors and Civil War. |
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| She-Wolves: The women who ruled England before Elizabeth by Helen CastorUntil the early Renaissance in Britain, there was a strong tradition that women should not be monarchs. But before the Tudors, four women exerted powerful leadership because they were married to kings of England. Then, following King Henry VIII, Lady Jane Grey and Mary I ascended the throne, and Elizabeth I became the first queen to enjoy a long reign. Historian Helen Castor portrays the six queens who preceded Elizabeth while illuminating their historical contexts and discussing the anti-female prejudices that supported the notion that women shouldn't rule. She-wolves was also made into a documentary television series. |
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God's traitors: Terror and faith in Elizabethan England
by Jessie Childs
Elizabeth I had criminalised Catholicism in England: for refusing to attend Anglican services her subjects faced fines and imprisonment; for giving refuge to outlawed priests they risked death. This book explores the Catholic predicament in Elizabethan England through the eyes of a Catholic aristocratic family: the Vauxes of Harrowden Hall.
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| Queen Anne: The politics of passion by Anne SomersetEngland's Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702-1714, oversaw her nation's growth into a great naval power. However, Anne also suffered from incapacitating illness and experienced numerous difficult pregnancies. Other complications in her life included Protestant-Catholic religious conflict, turbulent national politics, and a contentious relationship with her closest woman friend. In this insightful biography, author Anne Somerset draws on Anne's correspondence and other primary sources to portray a self-sufficient, strong leader -- far from the passive figure depicted by earlier historians. British history buffs will especially appreciate the details of British history during Anne's 49-year lifespan supplied in "Queen Anne". |
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| Mrs. Robinson's disgrace: The private diary of a Victorian lady by Kate SummerscalePopular historian Kate Summerscale delves into Victorian society's dirty little secrets. Legal divorce was made available to England's common citizens for the first time in 1858. The same year, Henry Robinson sued for divorce after finding a secret diary in which his wife, Isabella, had allegedly penned erotic musings about her doctor. Isabella dared to counter-sue, presenting the court with (among other evidence of marital neglect) Henry's two illegitimate children as evidence of his adultery. Summerscale seamlessly weaves private letters, newspaper stories, public documents, and Isabella's infamous diary into a moving portrait of history's real "Mrs. Robinson." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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