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- Creation lake : a novel / by Kushner, Rachel,author.;
"Creation Lake is a novel about a freelance agent, a 34-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics and bold opinions and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France. "Sadie Smith" is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the reader. We never learn her real name. Sadie has met her lover, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian, by "cold bump"- making him believe the encounter was accidental. And like everyone she chooses to interact with, Lucien is useful to her, used by her. Sadie operates on strategy and dissimulation, based on what her "contacts," shadowy figures in business and government, instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more. In this region of centuries-old farms and ancient caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists, who lives in a vast network of underground caves on his daughter's land and communicates only by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past before civilization. Just as Sadie is certain she's the seductress and puppet master of those whom she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story. Written in short, vaulting sections, Rachel Kushner's rendition of "noir" is taut, propulsive, and dazzling. Creation Lake is Kushner's finest achievement yet as a novelist, a work of high art, high comedy, keen insights, and unforgettable pleasure. From Rachel Kushner on the title: My character Bruno refers to "a deep cistern of voices, the lake of our creation" - meaning all of human history, the whole struggle in which chains of civilizations try to figure out how to live. He believes he can hear these voices underground. To me, "Creation Lake" suggests intrigue. Creation of what? In Sadie's case, a persona, a feint, a manipulation. But also in her case, the creation possibly of her own soul"--- Subjects: Black humor.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; Americans; Women intelligence officers;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 2
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- River of the gods : genius, courage, and betrayal in the search for the source of the Nile / by Millard, Candice,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the New York Times bestselling author of RIVER OF DOUBT and DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC, the stirring story of one of the great feats of exploration of all time, and its complicated legacy The Nile River is the longest in the world. Its fertile floodplain allowed for rise to the great civilization of ancient Egypt, but for millennia the location of its headwaters was shrouded in mystery. Pharaonic and Roman attempts to find it were stymied by a giant labyrinthine swamp, and subsequent expeditions got nofurther. In the 19th century, the discovery and translation of the Rosetta Stone set off a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt. At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe - and extendtheir colonial empires. Two British men - Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke - were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for England. Burton was already famous for being the first non-Muslim to travel to Mecca, disguised as an Arab chieftain. He spoke twenty-nine languages, was a decorated soldier, and literally wrote the book on sword-fighting techniques for the British Army. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officerdetermined to make his mark, passionate about hunting, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs. From the start the two men clashed, Speke chafing under Burton's command and Burton disapproving of Speke's ignorance of the people whose lands through which they traveled. They would endure tremendous hardships, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, Speke rushed to take credit, disparaging Burton. Burton disputed his claim, and Speke launched another expedition to Africa to prove it. The two became venomous enemies, with the public siding with the more charismatic Burton, to Speke's great envy. The day before they were to publicly debate, Speke shot himself. Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan's army, and eventually traveled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguisticprowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without his talents, it is likely that neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived. In RIVER OF THE GODS Candice Millard has written another peerless story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers"--- Subjects: Bombay, Sidi Mubarak; Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821-1890; Speke, John Hanning, 1827-1864; Explorers;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition. by N., Daniel,actor.; The Great Courses (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Daniel N. RobinsonOriginally produced by The Great Courses in 2004.Roman development of law based on a conception of nature, and of human nature, is one of the signal achievements in the history of civilization.Mode of access: World Wide Web.- Subjects: Education films.; Social sciences.; Philosophy and religion.; History, Ancient.; Instructional films.;
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- The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition. by N., Daniel,actor.; The Great Courses (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Daniel N. RobinsonOriginally produced by The Great Courses in 2004.As the idea of social science gained force, Hobbes's controversial treatise helped to naturalize the civil realm, readying it for scientific explanation.Mode of access: World Wide Web.- Subjects: Education films.; Social sciences.; Philosophy and religion.; History, Ancient.; Instructional films.;
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- The half-drowned king : a novel / by Hartsuyker, Linnea,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (page 431)."The first installment in a debut trilogy, THE HALF-DROWNED KING tells the compelling story of the political intrigues, battles, and struggles for power that led to the rise of King Harald the Fair-Haired, first king of Norway, seen through the eyes of the young man who became his most trusted warrior and advisor. Conjuring a bloodthirsty, superstitious, and thrilling ancient world (9th century), this debut novel is for fans of Game of Thrones, the Vikings TV series, and Outlander"--Provided by publisher.- Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Harald I, Haarfagre, King of Norway, approximately 860-approximately 940; Civil war;
- Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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- The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition. by N., Daniel,actor.; The Great Courses (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Daniel N. RobinsonOriginally produced by The Great Courses in 2004.The Stoics found in language something that would separate humanity from the animate realm, and that gave Rome a philosophy to civilize the world.Mode of access: World Wide Web.- Subjects: Education films.; Social sciences.; Philosophy and religion.; History, Ancient.; Instructional films.;
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- Travel thru history. [videorecording] / by TMW Media Group,distributor.;
In this episode of Travel Thru History we visit a city in the Southeastern US that you can hear from miles away. It's rightfully called Music City but you know it as Nashville, Tennessee. We dig deep into the city's past and find that there's more than just a vibrant music scene. There's a melody of Civil War history. First, we take in the magnificent Belmont Mansion. This thirty-six room summer home lies on the campus of Belmont University and is now a museum that boasts the incredible art collection of the original owners. Then we head to the home of the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, 7th US President Andrew Jackson's Tennessee mansion, known as The Hermitage. Next, we learn why Nashville is called the "Athens of the South." And every Athens needs its Parthenon, and Nashville doesn't disappoint. They have an exact replica of the Parthenon built in Ancient Greece. Then we're trekking uphill to the ruins of Fort Negley. Nashville was a city divided as we learn how this star-shaped fort was occupied during the Civil War. We couldn't visit Nashville without stopping by the Grand Ole Opry, the show that made country music famous!E.DVD.- Subjects: Nonfiction television programs.; Documentary television programs.; Travelogues (Television programs);
- For private home use only.
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- How to be : life lessons from the early Greeks / by Nicolson, Adam,1957-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."What is the nature of things? Must I think my own way through the world? What is justice? How can I be me? How should we treat each other? Before the Greeks, the idea of the world was dominated by god-kings and their priests, in a life ruled by imagined metaphysical monsters. 2,500 years ago, in a succession of small eastern Mediterranean harbour-cities, that way of thinking began to change. Men (and some women) decided to cast off mental subservience and apply their own worrying and thinking minds to the conundrums of life. These great innovators shaped the beginnings of philosophy. Through the questioning voyager Odysseus, Homer explored how we might navigate our way through the world. Heraclitus in Ephesus was the first to consider the interrelatedness of things. Xenophanes of Colophon was the first champion of civility. In Lesbos, the Aegean island of Sappho and Alcaeus, the early lyric poets asked themselves 'How can I be true to myself?' In Samos, Pythagoras imagined an everlasting soul and took his ideas to Italy where they flowered again in surprising and radical forms. Prize-winning writer Adam Nicolson travels through this transforming world and asks what light these ancient thinkers can throw on our deepest preconceptions. Sparkling with maps, photographs and artwork, How to Be is a journey into the origins of Western thought. Hugely formative ideas emerged in these harbour-cities: fluidity of mind, the search for coherence, a need for the just city, a recognition of the mutability of things, a belief in the reality of the ideal--all became the Greeks' legacy to the world. Born out of a rough, dynamic--and often cruel--moment in human history, it was the dawn of enquiry, where these fundamental questions about self, city and cosmos, asked for the first time, became, as they remain, the unlikely bedrock of understanding."--- Subjects: Heraclitus, of Ephesus.; Homer; Sappho; Civilization, Western;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- We're all in this together ... : so make some room / by Papa, Tom,author.; Papa, Tom.Essays.Selections.;
"Stand-up is all well and good, but observational humor that's funny and warm may work best in books. And Tom Papa, whose loyal audiences are packed with "date night" couples of all ages, has perfected the form. In We're All In This Together, Papa's thirty-seven short essays tackle these universal American topics, among others: -Love for Your First Car ("To Buy or Lease") -The Truth about Personal Hygiene ("How You Know When It's Time to Go") -Date Nights ("Will You Go Out with Me?") -Unfamiliar Hotel Rooms ("Why Nothing Works") -Pets ("Cats-Ancient Menace") -Drinking ("There's no Cure for a Hangover") -Ducking your Family, even Though you Love Them ("The Lesson of Mark Twain's Cigars") Tom Papa's books make readers laugh, but--crucially--feel better about themselves while doing it."--- Subjects: Essays.; American wit and humor.; Conduct of life; Interpersonal relations;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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- The longbow, the schooner & the violin : wood and human achievement / by De Villiers, Marq,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.The English longbow, made of rare yew wood, unmatched for accuracy, speed of fire, and deadliness, shifted Europe's balance of power in the Middle Ages. Schooners, those "able handsome ladies" of the sea, inaugurated a new era of global trade, carrying high-value cargoes of tea and spice to Europe and America with unmatched speed and reliability. The violin, individual examples of which have personalities and histories as brilliant as the performers who play them, brought Western music to the pinnacle of expressiveness. These three iconic artifacts exemplify the inventive ways human ingenuity has employed wood - one of our most extraordinary natural substances - to change its culture and history. In this sweeping and beautifully-written history, award-winning author Marq de Villiers explores our relationship with wood, from ancient times to the present, from the forest to the workshop. Wood, he writes, has always been an essential companion to human development, and its most remarkable applications may still be ahead.- Subjects: Material culture.; Technology and civilization.; Technology; Wood; Woodwork;
- Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 141 to 150 of 168 | « previous | next »