Search:

The forbidden garden : the botanists of besieged Leningrad and their impossible choice / by Parkin, Simon,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad-now St. Petersburg-and began the longest blockade in recorded history, one that would ultimately claim the lives of nearly three-quarters of a million people. At the center of the besieged city stood a converted palace that housed the world's largest collection of seeds-more than 250,000 samples hand-collected over two decades from all over the globe by world-famous explorer, geneticist, and dissident Nikolai Vavilov, who had recently been disappeared by the Soviet government. After attempts to evacuate the priceless collection failed and supplies dwindled amongst the three million starving citizens, the employes at the Plant Institute were left with a terrible choice. Should they save the collection? Or themselves? These were not just any seeds. The botanists believed they could be bred into heartier, disease-resistant, and more productive varieties suited for harsh climates, therefore changing the future of food production and preventing famines like those that had plagued their countrymen before. But protecting the seeds was no idle business. The scientists rescued potato samples under enemy fire, extinguished bombs landing on the seed bank's roof, and guarded the collection from scavengers, the bitter cold, and their own hunger. Then in the war's eleventh hour, Nazi plunderers presented a new threat to the collection ... Drawing from previously unseen sources, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin-who has "an inimitable capacity to find the human pulse in the underbelly of war" (The Spectator)-tells the incredible true story of the botanists who held their posts at the Plant Institute during the 872-day siege and the remarkable sacrifices they made in the name of science"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Brücher, Heinz, 1915-1991.; Ivanov, N. R. (Nikolaĭ Rodionovich); Vavilov, N. I. (Nikolaĭ Ivanovich), 1887-1943.; Vsesoi͡uznyĭ institut rastenievodstva (Soviet Union); Botanical specimens; Botanists; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The North-West is our mother : the story of Louis Riel's people, the Métis Nation / by Teillet, Jean,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.There is a missing chapter in the narrative of Canada's Indigenous peoples--the story of the Métis Nation, a new Indigenous people descended from both First Nations and Europeans. Their story begins in the last decade of the eighteenth century in the Canadian North-West. Within twenty years the Métis proclaimed themselves a nation and won their first battle. Within forty years they were famous throughout North America for their military skills, their nomadic life and their buffalo hunts. The Métis Nation didn't just drift slowly into the Canadian consciousness in the early 1800s; it burst onto the scene fully formed. The Métis were flamboyant, defiant, loud and definitely not noble savages. They were nomads with a very different way of being in the world-always on the move, very much in the moment, passionate and fierce. They were romantics and visionaries with big dreams. They battled continuously-for recognition, for their lands and for their rights and freedoms. In 1870 and 1885, led by the iconic Louis Riel, they fought back when Canada took their lands. These acts of resistance became defining moments in Canadian history, with implications that reverberate to this day: Western alienation, Indigenous rights and the French/English divide. After being defeated at the Battle of Batoche in 1885, the Métis lived in hiding for twenty years. But early in the twentieth century, they determined to hide no more and began a long, successful fight back into the Canadian consciousness. The Métis people are now recognized in Canada as a distinct Indigenous nation. Writte by the great-grandniece of Louis Riel, this popular and engaging history of "forgotten people" tells the story up to the present era of national reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Subjects: Riel, Louis, 1844-1885.; Métis.; Métis; Métis; Indigenous peoples;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Her Majesty's Royal Coven / by Dawson, Juno,author.;
"If you look hard enough at old photographs, we're there in the background: healers in the trenches; Suffragettes; Bletchley Park oracles; land girls and resistance fighters. Why is it we help in times of crisis? We have a gift. We are stronger than Mundanes, plain and simple. At the dawn of their adolescence, on the eve of the summer solstice, four young girls -- Helena, Leonie, Niamh and Elle -- took the oath to join Her Majesty's Royal Coven, established by Queen Elizabeth I as a covert government department. Now, decades later, the witch community is still reeling from a civil war and Helena is now the reigning High Priestess of the organization. Yet Helena is the only one of her friend group still enmeshed in the stale bureaucracy of HMRC. Elle is tryingto pretend she's a normal housewife, and Niamh has become a country vet, using her powers to heal sick animals. In what Helena perceives as the deepest betrayal, Leonie has defected to start her own more inclusive and intersectional coven, Diaspora. Andnow Helena has a bigger problem. A young warlock of extraordinary capabilities has been captured by authorities and seems to threaten the very existence of HMRC. With conflicting beliefs over the best course of action, the four friends must decide where their loyalties lie: with preserving tradition, or doing what is right. Juno Dawson explores gender and the corrupting nature of power in a delightful and provocative story of magic and matriarchy, friendship and feminism. Dealing with all the aspects of contemporary womanhood, as well as being phenomenally powerful witches, Niamh, Helena, Leonie and Elle may have grown apart but they will always be bound by the sisterhood of the coven"--
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; Novels.; Gender identity; Magic; Secret societies; Witches;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The Football Afficionado. by Khoshdel, Paliz,film director.; Mojtahedzadeh, Sharmin,film director.; Journeyman Pictures (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Originally produced by Journeyman Pictures in 2022.As women’s presence in stadiums is prohibited by the Iranian government, Zahra, a 27-year-old woman, and a football fan, disguises herself as a man to be able to watch a match. Thanks to social media, this simple initiative has led her to become a symbol of change and resistance of her generation.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Mass media.; Digital communications.; Health.; Social sciences.; Physical education and training.; Foreign study.; Gender identity.; Documentary films.; Middle East.; Mass media and culture.; Women's studies.; Current affairs.; Social media.;
unAPI

Blue Island [videorecording] / by Chen, Zihuan,1987-film director.; Icarus Films Home Video,film distributor.;
The large-scale 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and the subsequent crackdown on freedoms provide the urgent anchoring point for this remarkable vision from HK filmmaker Chan Tze Woon, a genre-defying plunge into the political morass that has been ever-widening between the former colony and the controlling Chinese state. Taking a panoramic view of these fractures, and covering acts of resistance from 1967 to today, Chan mixes documentary footage and fictional recreations of the past starring contemporary student protestors.E.DVD ; wide screen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Foreign films.; Historical films.; Motion pictures, Chinese.; Political films.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Students;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI