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Elderflora : a modern history of ancient trees / by Farmer, Jared,1974-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and indexes."The epic story of the planet's oldest trees and the making of the modern world. Humans have always revered long-lived trees. But as historian Jared Farmer reveals in Elderflora, our veneration took a modern turn in the eighteenth century, when naturalists embarked on a quest to locate and precisely date the oldest living things on earth. The new science of tree time prompted travelers to visit ancient specimens and conservationists to protect sacred groves. Exploitation accompanied sanctification, as old-growth forests succumbed to imperial expansion and the industrial revolution. Taking us from Lebanon to New Zealand to California, Farmer surveys the complex history of the world's oldest trees, including voices of Indigenous peoples, religious figures, and contemporary scientists who study elderflora in crisis. In a changing climate, a long future is still possible, Farmer shows, but only if we give care to young things that might grow old."--
Subjects: Civilization, Modern.; Climatic changes.; Dendrochronology.; Forests and forestry.; Human ecology.; Landscape assessment.; Longevity.; Time perception.; Trees.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Sacred nature : restoring our ancient bond with the natural world / by Armstrong, Karen,1944-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A profound exploration of the spiritual power of nature-and an urgent call to reclaim that power in everyday life. Since the beginning of time, humankind has looked upon nature and seen the divine. In the writings of the great thinkers across religions, the natural world inspires everything from fear to awe to tranquil contemplation; God, or however one defined the sublime, was present in everything. Yet today, even as we admire a tree or take in a striking landscape, we rarely see nature as sacred. In this short but deeply powerful book, the bestselling historian of religion Karen Armstrong re-sacralizes nature for modern times. Drawing on her vast knowledge of the world's religious traditions, she vividly describes nature's central place in spirituality across the centuries. In bringing this age-old wisdom to life, Armstrong shows modern readers how to rediscover nature's potency and form a connection to something greater than ourselves"--
Subjects: Ecotheology.; Human beings; Human ecology; Nature; Nature; Spiritual life.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Wildcat : the untold story of Pearl Hart, the wild west's most notorious woman bandit / by Boessenecker, John,1953-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The little-known story of Pearl Hart, the most famous female bandit in the American West. On May 30, 1899, history was made when Canadian-born and raised Pearl Hart, disguised as a man, held up a stagecoach in Arizona and robbed the passengers at gunpoint. A manhunt ensued as word of her heist spread, and Pearl Hart went on to become a media sensation and the most notorious female outlaw on the Western frontier. Her early life, family and fate after her later release from prison have long remained a mystery to scholars and historians--until now. Drawing on groundbreaking research into territorial records and genealogical data, John Boessenecker's Wildcat is the first book to uncover the enigma of Pearl Hart. Hailed by many as "The Bandit Queen," her epic life of crime and legacy as a female trailblazer provide a crucial lens into the lives of the rare women who made their mark in the American West.
Subjects: Biographies.; Hart, Pearl.; Women outlaws; Women outlaws;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The lost jewels : a novel / by Manning, Kirsty,author.;
Includes bibliographical references.Present day. When respected American jewelry historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she's on the brink of the experience of a lifetime. Back in Boston, Kate has uncovered a series of sketches in the papers of her great-grandmother and suffragist, Essie, linking her to the Cheapside collection. Could these sketches hold the key to Essie's secret life in Edwardian London? In the summer of 1912, impoverished Irish immigrant Essie Murphy happens to be visiting her brother when a worker's pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement house in Cheapside. The workers uncover a stash of treasure, from Ottoman pendants to Elizabethan and Jacobean gems, and then the finds disappear again! Could these jewels change the fortunes of Essie and her sisters? Together with photographer Marcus Holt, Kate Kirby chases the history of the Cheapside gems and jewels. Soon, everything Kate believes about her family, gemology, and herself will be threatened.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Jewelry; Family secrets; Treasure troves;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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History's people : personalities and the past / by MacMillan, Margaret,1943-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In this year's highly anticipated Massey Lectures, internationally acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan gives her own personal selection of the great figures of the past, women and men, who have changed the course of history and even directed the currents of their times--and sometimes with huge consequences, as in the cases of Hitler, Stalin, and Thatcher. She also acknowledges people such as Richard Nixon and George W. Bush who stubbornly went their own ways, often in defiance of their own societies. Then there are those like Samuel de Champlain, the dreamers, explorers, or adventurers who stand out in history for who they were as much as for what they did. Finally, there are the observers, such as Michel de Montaigne, who kept the notes and diaries that bring the past to life for us. History's People is about the important and complex relationship between biography and history, individuals and their times, and the transformative moments that have shaped the world today."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Biography.; World history.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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1916 : One Hundred Years of Irish Independence : From the Easter Rising to the Present / by Coogan, Tim Pat,1935-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The 1916 Easter Rising and its aftermath changed Ireland for ever. The British government's execution of 14 republican rebels transformed a group hitherto perceived as cranks and troublemakers into national heroes. Those who avoided the British firing squads of May 1916 went on to plan a new - and ultimately successful - struggle for Ireland's independence, shaping their country's destiny for the century to come. But what sort of country did they create? And to what extent does post-1916 Ireland measure up to the hopes and aspirations of 'MacDonagh and MacBride / And Connolly and Pearse'? Best-selling historian Tim Pat Coogan offers a strongly personal perspective on the Irish century that followed the Rising - charting a flawed history that is marked as much by complacency, corruption and institutional and clerical abuse, as it is by the sacrifices and nation-building achievements of the Republic's founding fathers"--cProvided by publisher.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Hanged in Medicine Hat : murders in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, and the disturbing true story of Canada's last mass execution / by Greenfield, Nathan M.,1958-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."For three years during the Second World War, 12,000 Nazis were held in a prisoner-of-war camp at the edge of Medicine Hat, an isolated city of 12,000 people on the bald Canadian prairie. The camp and the townsfolk lived cheerfully side-by-side until two men were beaten and hanged by their fellow prisoners and no one on the scene would admit to knowing anything about the crimes. RCMP investigators infiltrated the camp and discovered the existence of a shadow Nazi government, complete with its own Gestapo responsible for enforcing discipline and loyalty to the Fuhrer. Suspects were identified. Charges were laid. A series of gripping trials resulted in the last mass hanging in Canadian history. Now, eighty years after the fact, acclaimed historian Nathan Greenfield presents stunning new evidence that raises grave questions about whether justice was served on either side of the wire in Medicine Hat."--
Subjects: Hanging; Nazis; Serial murders; Trials (Murder); World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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John A. Macdonald : the young politician, the old chieftain / by Creighton, Donald Grant,1902-1979,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The Dictionary of Canadian Biography calls this work 'probably the greatest Canadian biography yet published in English.' Donald Creighton's two-volume study of Canada's first Prime Minister was originally published in the 1950s, and each of the volumes won a Governor General's Literary Award. Sir John A. Macdonald's flamboyant personality dominated Canadian public life from the years preceding Confederation to the end of the nineteenth century. The political structures and national policies which developed under his leadership continue to shape public issues today. Creighton brought a rare combination of rigorous scholarship, magnificent literary style, and romantic and heroic vision to his biography of Macdonald. These qualities give his writing extraordinary power, and explain the work's appeal for both students of history and general readers. P.B. Waite's introduction to this new one-volume republication provides an illuminating account of the impact that Creighton and his biography of Macdonald had on a whole generation of historians and readers."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Macdonald, John A. (John Alexander), 1815-1891.; Prime ministers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Cassino '44 : the brutal battle for Rome / by Holland, James,1970-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Acclaimed World War II historian James Holland vividly relates the dramatic last months of the Italian Campaign in a masterful volume that brings new awareness to this vital hinge point of the war. As the new year of 1944 began in Italy, the Allied army's momentum had ground to a halt just south of the vaunted German Gustav Line of defense, far short of their initial objective of liberating Rome by Christmas. The fighting up the Italian peninsula had been brutal -- rugged terrain, fierce resistance, terrible weather. While Allied leaders in London prepared for the cross-Channel invasion of France later that spring, the war in the West hinged in Italy. As bestselling historian James Holland relates in his seminal concluding volume on the Italy Campaign, the next five months saw two of World War II's most famous battles -- the four ferocious assaults on Monte Cassino and the fraught landing northwest in the marshes at Anzio -- culminating at last in the liberation of Rome on June 4, merely two days before D-Day. Based on twenty years of research, Cassino '44 offers perspectives and conclusions that differ from the standard narrative. Holland elevates the narrative of war, chronicling the dramatic events primarily through in-the-moment letters and diaries of those who were there. Counterpointing the memories of German soldiers like battalion commander Jurg Kellner with those of British captain John Strick and American corporal Audie Murphy, whose exploits in the field would lead to Hollywood fame, and of Italian citizens and politicians caught up in the maelstrom, Holland vividly recreates their day-to-day encounter with destiny over each bloodily contested mile. General Mark Clark, overall Allied commander in Italy, has been criticized for being overly cautious and needlessly extending the campaign. Holland argues that, given the conditions and constant shortage of materiel held back for the D-Day invasion, Clark and other commanders led a remarkably successful campaign. Well more than 100,000 Allied casualties occurred in the five months leading to Rome, more than in any other campaign of the war. Cassino '44 is the definitive account of a key turning point of World War II and brings our appreciation of the experience of war to a new level"--
Subjects: Cassino, Battle of, Cassino, Italy, 1944.; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Secrets of the force : the complete, uncensored, unauthorized oral history of Star Wars / by Gross, Edward(Edward A.),author.; Altman, Mark A.,author.;
"From the authors of The Fifty-Year Mission and So Say We All, comes the first and only comprehensive oral history of the Star Wars movie franchise. For the past four decades, no film saga has touched the world in the way that Star Wars has, capturing the imaginations of filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Now, for the first time ever, Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the bestselling authors of The Fifty-Year Mission, are telling the entire story of this blockbuster franchise from the very beginning in a single exhaustive volume. Featuring the commentaries of hundreds of actors and filmmakers involved with and impacted by Star Wars, as well as writers, commentators, critics, executives, authors, film historians, toy experts and many more, Secrets of the Force, will reveal all in Altman and Gross's critically acclaimed oral history format from the birth of the original film through the latest sequels and the new televisions series"--
Subjects: Star wars (Motion picture); Star Wars films;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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